STROUDSBURG, Pa.- The West Chester softball team (37-19) returned to action on Friday at Creekview Park in Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania, for the second day of the 2023 NCAA Atlantic Region Tournament hosted by East Stroudsburg. West Chester dropped its first game of the afternoon to the host Warriors by an 8-0 final before falling victim to a late-game comeback in an elimination game against West Virginia Wesleyan, falling by a final of 6-4 to bring the 2023 season to its conclusion.
Game One: ESU 8 WCU 0 (5 Innings)
East Stroudsburg jumped out to an early lead in the first inning, scoring three runs courtesy of a series of singles before adding three more runs in the second to take a commanding 6-0 lead.
ESU pushed across another run in the third to stretch the lead to 7-0 before walking in the eighth and final run of the game in the fifth to earn a shortened 8-0 victory over the visiting Golden Rams.
Danielle Ciliberto (Ambler, Pa./Wissahickon) (14-5) got the start in the circle for West Chester on Friday morning, working the first 1.2, allowing five runs (two earned) on six hits before exiting for
Antonia Browning (Newark, Del./Charter School of Wilmington). Browning worked the next 2.2, allowing three runs on five hits and a walk before
Makenzie Edwards (Atco, N.J./Hammonton) entered in relief and got the final two outs for West Chester while also yielding a pair of walks as the Warriors picked up the victory.
Paige Zigmund was outstanding for ESU in the circle on Friday morning, allowing just three hits while striking out five as the PSAC East Pitcher of the Year improved to 23-5 on the season.
Game Two: West Virginia Wesleyan 6 WCU 4
Following its setback vs ESU to begin the day, West Chester was forced to wait and watch to learn who its next opponent would be as Bowie State and West Virginia Wesleyan battled in the middle game of the three-game day at Creekview Park on Friday. West Virginia Wesleyan emerged victorious in that contest to set up an elimination-game rematch from the weekend's first game against West Chester.
West Chester jumped out to an early lead in this contest, taking a one-run lead in the bottom of the first thanks to an RBI single by
Hailey Melvin (Tabernacle, N.J./Seneca), which stood as the lone run until the Bobcats answered back with an one-out RBI triple in the third. This run is all Klug would allow in the top of the third as the game went to the home half tied at 1-1.
Melvin answered for West Chester quickly in the bottom of the third, driving a two-RBI single into center, which scored
Grace Aguilar (Frederica, Del./Lake Forest) and
Katelyn Rittenbaugh (Donaldson, Pa./Pine Grove) to give the Golden Rams a 3-1 lead.
West Virginia Wesleyan answered with an offensive outburst of its own, scoring five runs on two hits and three Golden Ram errors to take a 6-3 lead over fourth-seeded West Chester after the fourth inning of play.
West Chester got a run back in the fifth, cutting into the deficit with a two-out bases-loaded walk by
Olivia Mock (Clifton, Va./Paul V) while continuing to threaten. The Bobcats escaped the inning with a strikeout after Hannah Hudson entered in relief of Abigail O'Shields, who had gotten the starting nod in the circle.
In the sixth, West Chester had runners on first and second with one out after a single to third off the bat of Rittenbaugh and later had runners on the corners with two outs, but the Bobcats escaped the inning with a big strikeout once again to hold on to a two-run lead heading into the seventh.
Ciliberto, who had entered in relief for West Chester, worked a quick 1,2,3 seventh inning to keep West Chester within striking distance heading to the last of the seventh.
Meg Wolfe (Pine Grove, Pa./Pine Grove) worked a walk with one-out in the seventh, giving West Chester a late baserunner before West Virginia Wesleyan tight-roped out of danger for a final time to escape with a 6-4 victory.
Samantha Klug (East Norriton, Pa./Chestnut Hill Academy) got the start in the circle and worked the first 3.1, allowing three runs on three hits and three walks while striking out a pair before giving way to Browning (2-4), who was saddled with the loss. Browning allowed two runs (one earned) on one walk and a hit by pitch, while Ciliberto finished the game, scattering four hits and one unearned run over her 3.2 innings of work.
O'Shields earned the victory in the circle for Wesleyan, allowing just four runs on seven hits and four walks, while Hudson picked up her second save of the year after pitching 2.1 scoreless innings, allowing just two hits and one walk while striking out five.
Tonight's setback concludes the 2023 season for West Chester, which was a tremendous year that saw the Golden Rams win a share of the PSAC East crown for the first time since 2019 while also returning the PSAC and NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2021.
