Tournament Central
STROUDSBURG, Pa.- The West Chester softball team (36-17) is continuing its preparations for its NCAA Tournament opener vs fifth-seed West Virginia Wesleyan on Thursday afternoon at Creekview Park in Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania. West Chester, the four-time and 2021 Atlantic Region Champions, returns to the Tournament this year as the fourth seed in the Atlantic Region following a brief one-year hiatus a season ago.
Fan Information
Ticket sales will be cash only and will only be available on site with general admission tickets being $10 for the day while students with ID, seniors 65+, veterans, first responders will be $5 per day and children under the age of two will be admitted free of charge.
The Bracket
With a victory on Thursday over West Virginia Wesleyan, West Chester would advance in the winners bracket and face the winner of East Stroudsburg/Bowie State on Friday while a loss would see the Golden Rams return to action on Friday against the loser of the ESU/Bowie State matchup.
Flock Talk
West Chester enters the NCAA Tournament after an unusually early exit from the PSAC Tournament as the Golden Rams, who had earned the top seed in the PSAC East, fell to Bloomsburg in their first game of the day before losing to Gannon in a high-scoring elimination game. This is the 11
th NCAA Tournament appearance for West Chester dating back to 2008 and the Golden Rams have played to a record of 30-23 with four Regional Championships during that span.
West Chester also faced off against West Virginia Wesleyan six times in the NCAA Tournament with all prior meetings coming in the Super Regionals. In 2014, West Chester took 2-of-3 from WV Wesleyan in Supers to claim its first Atlantic Region Crown before dropping 2-of-3 in the 2017 Super Regionals.
As the Golden Rams have for many years, West Chester continues to boast one of the top offenses in the PSAC, ranking in the top five in the league in most major categories, including batting average (.316), runs (301), RBI (255), and extra-base hits, thanks in large part to a league-best 25 triples on the year. Of the Golden Rams six All-Conference honorees, five of them came on the offensive side, headlined by
Katelyn Rittenbaugh (Donaldson, Pa./Pine Grove), Hailey Melvin (Tabernacle, N.J./Seneca) and Madison Melvin (Tabernacle, N.J./Seneca) who all landed on the First Team All-PSAC East squad.
Madison Melvin remains the league leader in a host of categories, including batting average (.489), hits (88), and triples (7), while also ranking a close second in runs scored with 57 and on-base percentage (.545) on the year. Melvin also broke the Golden Rams single-season hit record during the Golden Rams stay in Quakertown, upping her total to 88 during the course of the Golden Rams two PSAC Tournament games.
The West Chester lineup has shown its depth throughout the 2023 season, with eight of nine Golden Rams entering the Tournament with over 30 hits on the year, while six of the nine Golden Rams hit at least one home run during the regular season. The top half of the lineup, which features the Melvin sisters, Rittenbaugh, and Second Team All-League honoree
Grace Aguilar (Frederica, Del./Lake Forest), has all four Golden Rams batting north of .330 on the year with slugging percentages above .430. These four players have accounted for 161 runs scored this season while also driving in 125 with 58 extra-base hits, including 34 doubles, 19 triples, and five home runs.
Despite having a relatively young pitching staff in 2023, West Chester has been among the best in the league in pitching throughout the season, ranking atop the PSAC at the end of the regular season in batting average against (.241) while ranking second in the league in ERA (2.38), while also ranking second in hits allowed, surrendering just 322 so far this season. First Team All-League pick
Danielle Ciliberto (Ambler, Pa./Wissahickon), who led the league in a host of categories at the end of the regular season, including ERA (1.25), batting average against (.212), runs (28), and earned runs (18), has enjoyed an outstanding rookie season, pitching to a record of 13-4 with 91 strikeouts on the year, including an impressive 11-strikeout effort vs. Kutztown earlier this year. Ciliberto's 11 strikeouts vs. the Golden Bears was the most by a WCU pitcher in a single game since Amanda Houck fanned 11 against U Sciences in 2018, while also serving as the most by a WCU pitcher in a PSAC East game since Brooke Harner struck out 14 vs. Kutztown in 2015.
Ciliberto is one of a number of talented WCU pitchers to enter the circle this year as fellow freshman
Samantha Klug (East Norriton, Pa./Chestnut Hill Academy) has pitched to a record of 10-3 with a 3.08 ERA and a .263 batting average against this season, while
Makenzie Edwards (Atco, N.J./Hammonton) has gone 9-7 with a 2.20 ERA and a .225 batting average against. Ciliberto, Edwards, and Klug have combined for 17 complete games and eight shutouts this season, with Ciliberto leading the staff with nine complete games and seven shutouts in her rookie campaign.
Beyond this trio, which has been the starting rotation for much of the season, West Chester can and does also look to the likes of
Mary Picozzi (Collegeville, Pa./Lansdale Catholic), Antonia Browning (Newark, Del./Charter School of Wilmington), and Anna Torrens (Holmes, Pa./Ridley) to take the ball and provide excellent depth in the Golden Rams rotation. Picozzi, who notably pitched the clinching game to win WCU the PSAC Title at Seton Hill in 2021, has pitched to a record of 2-0 on the year with a 3.50 ERA over her 22 innings of work. For her part, Browning enters the Tournament with a record of 2-3 with one save and a complete-game shutout against Mansfield earlier this season. The fifth-year senior has appeared in 15 games with eight starts this year and has pitched 39.2 innings for the Golden Rams in 2023, holding opponents to a .271 batting average against, along with 19 strikeouts over that span.
Know the Foe
West Chester will open its 2023 NCAA Tournament campaign against West Virginia Wesleyan, a team the Golden Rams have faced off against 10 times since the 2009 season. The Bobcats have emerged victorious in six of those 10 meetings, although West Chester and West Virginia Wesleyan have split the meetings since 2014, with all six games coming during the Atlantic Region Tournament.
West Virginia Wesleyan also enters the NCAA Tournament after a shortened conference tournament run as the Bobcats went 1-2 in the Mountain East Tournament, starting out with a 7-3 win over Frostburg State before falling to Fairmont State (3-2) and Notre Dame (Oh.) (3-2) to be eliminated from the MEC Tournament.
Led by longtime and MEC Coach of the Year Steve Warner, West Virginia Wesleyan also saw Kendall Stoffel earn Pitcher of the Year honors while Andie Dizon secured Freshman of the Year honors. Stoffel, who is just a sophomore for the Bobcats enters the Tournament with a record of 19-2 and a 1.17 ERA with a 0.98 WHIP, logging 15 complete games and seven shutouts on the year. Stoffel is also one of three West Virginia Wesleyan pitchers with over 100 innings pitched on the year as Hannah Hudson has thrown 144 innings and registered a record of 16-9 with a 1.56 ERA while Abigail O'Shields is 8-4 with a 1.88 ERA in her 104 innings of work.
Offensively, Morgan Norris and Andie Dizon are the two leaders for West Virginia Wesleyan, batting .388 and .356 on the year, respectively. With a 1.128 OPS, Norris is one of the more dangerous power hitters in the region, entering the NCAA Tournament with 26 extra-base hits, including 12 doubles, four triples, and 10 home runs driving in 54 runs on the year, while also scoring 39. Dizon, a freshman from California, has also showcased her power at the plate throughout the year, hitting eight home runs as a part of 19 extra-base hits while also driving in 38 runs. Taylor Swartz is the third and final Bobcat hitting north of .300 on the year and is one of the primary speed threats for West Virginia Wesleyan, successfully stealing 16 bases on 17 attempts while also ranking second on the team hits with 50, including 10 doubles, two triples, and three home runs.
Up Next:
Regardless of result, tomorrow's game vs West Virginia Wesleyan will be the only game the Golden Rams play in Stroudsburg tomorrow. With a win, West Chester will return to action in the first game of the day on Friday in need of just a win over the winner of the ESU/Bowie State Tournament opener to advance to the Pod Finals on Saturday while a loss would force WCU to win twice on Friday to advance to Saturday afternoon.
