WEST CHESTER, Pa.- The West Chester University softball team (3-2) picked up a split with Holy Family (1-5) on Saturday afternoon, winning game one in dramatic fashion despite leading for much of the afternoon before dropping the nightcap by a 2-1 final.
Game one was a game for the offenses as the two teams combined for 13 runs, with eight home runs accounting for 10 of the runs scored.
Casey Best (Wilmington, Del./Concord) was the hero in game one, delivering a walkoff double in the home half of the seventh to score
Lauryn Kane (Plymouth Meeting, Pa./Plymouth Whitemarsh) and lift West Chester to a 7-6 victory. The Golden Rams dropped a heartbreaker in the nightcap as the Tigers used a big sixth inning to pull a 2-1 upset victory.
Game One: WCU 7 HFU 6
WP: Danielle Ciliberto (2-0)
LP: Olivia George (0-1)
There were eight home runs, and 10 of the 13 runs were scored via the long ball, with the lone two runs not via home run coming via a sac fly RBI from
Sam Stein (Maplewood, N.J./Columbia) in the home half of the sixth and the walkoff double by Best in the seventh.
West Chester got out to an early 4-0 lead after early home runs by
Mairead Hopkins, Paige Marabell (Tunkhannock, Pa./Tunkhannock), and Best before the Tigers began their comeback bid.
Holt Family got a pair of solo home runs in the fourth and fifth inning for its first two of five home runs in game one before a Kane double plated
Hailey Melvin (Tabernacle, N.J./Seneca) who had tripled earlier in the inning.
In the top of the sixth, Holy Family exploded for four runs on three home runs to take a 6-5 lead.
West Chester tied the game at 6-6 in the home sixth after a sac fly RBI off the bat of Stein, who had entered the game as a defensive replacement midway through the game.
In the seventh, Kane was down to her last strike but battled back to a 2-2 count and eventually doubled off the wall, allowing her to score on a double down the left field line from Best, making West Chester a walkoff winner.
Makenzie Edwards (Atco, N.J./Hammonton) got the start and worked 5.1, allowing five runs on six hits while striking out four.
Danielle Ciliberto (Ambler, Pa./Wissahickon) (2-0) earned her second win of the season with an
1.2 in relief, which saw scatter just two hits and one run, while striking out one.
Kinsley Hall got the start for Holy Family and yielded four runs (two earned) on four hits while striking out five. Olivia George suffered the loss after allowing three runs on five this, while striking out one in 2.2 innings of work.
Game Two: HFU 2 WCU 1
WP: Paige Tidaback (1-1)
LP: Ciliberto (2-1)
In stark contrast to the afternoon's first game, the nightcap was a pitcher's duel as the two teams combined for just three runs on 12 hits as Holy Family escaped South Campus with a 2-1 split.
Kane gave West Chester a 1-0 lead in the first inning, singling home Melvin, who had walked and stolen second earlier in the inning.
This advantage held up into the sixth inning as Ciliberto was dominant in the nightcap, yielding just three hits through her first five innings, while striking out nine Holy Family batters.
In the sixth, Holy Family got runners on second and third early with back-to-back one-out hits before loading the bases with one out after a hit-by-pitch. West Chester got a big second out when
Julia Miller fired a strike back to the plate on a ground ball to short to cut down the runner and keep the bases loaded with two outs. Lauren Hagy followed this up with a two-RBI single up the middle that plated a pair and gave the Tigers a 2-1 lead heading into the home half of the sixth.
West Chester nearly answered right back as a two-out single by Ciliberto gave West Chester runners on second and third with two outs. Stein hit a slow-roller to third base, which was nearly enough to plate the tying run, but Madison Grubb made a great play to get the third out and keep the lead intact.
West Chester threatened again in the seventh with back-to-back two-out singles after excellent at-bats by Hopkins and Melvin, but Tidaback closed the game out with her seventh strikeout of the afternoon to escape with a 2-1 victory.
Tidaback was excellent in the victory as she struck out seven and scattered just six hits and two walks while allowing just one run to improve to 1-1 on the year.
Ciliberto was just as impressive on Saturday afternoon as she went the distance in the nightcap after finishing the game one victory, allowing just two runs on six hits, while striking out nine in addition to her one strikeout in the game one victory.
Up Next:
West Chester will be back in action on Tuesday at Georgian Court, beginning at 1 p.m.
