MELBOURNE, Fl.- Riding a three-game winning streak after a Sunday sweep, the West Chester University softball team (10-3) stretched its winning streak to five in a row on Tuesday with a pair of victories over Bloomfield (0-15) and Mercy (5-4). West Chester started its day with a 12-0 victory over Bloomfield in five innings before winning the nightcap over in 4-2 after a sixth-inning rally erased a late two-run deficit.
Game One: WCU 12 Bloomfield 0 (5 Innings)
WP: Alyssa Tooley (1-0)
LP: Rayn Romero (0-8)
West Chester scored in four of five innings, including a three-run first, four-run third, and a three-run fifth, with the lone frame in which the bats were kept silent being the fourth inning.
West Chester started the scoring early with an RBI single from
Julia Miller (Moorestown, N.J./Moorestown) followed by an RBI triple from
Lauryn Kane (Plymouth Meeting, Pa./Plymouth Whitemarsh) before she scored on a sac fly from
Casey Best (Wilmington, Del./Concord).
West Chester tacked on two more runs in the second when Miller doubled home a pair before scoring four more in the fourth, thanks in part to RBI singles by
Mairead Hopkins (West Chester, Pa./Rustin) and
Madison Peck (Royersford, Pa./Spring Ford) along with heads up baserunning to take a 9-0 lead.
Needing nothing more than three outs in the home half of the inning to end the game early, West Chester scored three more runs in the fifth courtesy of back-to-back-to-back walks by
Roxy Smithson (Lititz, Pa./Warwick), Lauren Daniels (Drums, Pa./Hazleton), and Gianna Liciardello (Philadelphia, Pa./Archbishop Carroll) as the team cruised to a 12-0 victory.
Alyssa Tooley (Hatboro, Pa./Hatboro-Horsham) (2-0) earned her second win of the wek after pitching four scoreless innings, allowing just two hits and one walk, while striking out four.
Jaelyn Silfies (Bangor, Pa./Bangor) made her Golden Ram debut in the fifth and struck out the side to finish off the dominant 12-run victory.
Rayn Romero (0-8) suffered the loss for Bloomfield, allowing 12 runs (eight earned) on nine hits and eight walks, while striking out two.
Game Two: WCU 4 Mercy 2
WP: Makenzie Edwards (3-1)
LP: Skylar Brandemarte (2-2)
After three quick innings to start the game, West Chester found itself behind by a pair after the fourth, and this is how the score stood heading into the home half of the sixth.
West Chester scored four runs in the home sixth on four hits and one very costly error as the Golden Rams stormed back to win by a 4-2 final and stretch their winning streak to five in a row. With the bases loaded following a Best walk,
Paige Marabell (Tunkhannock, Pa./Tunkhannock) laced a single down the left-field line, which appeared as if it would tie the game at 2-2. This single did that and more as the Mavericks tried to get Best on her way to third and airmailed the throw into the outfield, which allowed Best to score and moved Marabell to second.
This error continued to prove costly as Ciliberto followed it up with an RBI single, which scored
Kayla Fitzpatrick (Carle Place, N.Y./Sacred Heart), who had entered as a pinch-runner for Marabell.
Leading 4-2 with three outs to get, Mercy got a runner on to start the inning via a hit-by-pitch and got runners on first and second with two outs after an infield single but Edwards escaped the inning with a fly ball to center to end the threat and lift the Golden Rams to the 4-2 victory.
Skylar Brandemarte (2-2) likely pitched well enough to win on Tuesday afternoon, allowing just five hits and a walk, but the four-run sixth inning (only two of the Golden Rams four runs were earned) led to her suffering her second loss of the young season.
Makenzie Edwards (Atco, N.J./Hammonton) picked up her third win of the season in relief as she entered in the fifth and worked three scoreless innings, allowing just two hits and a walk while striking out one in the comeback victory. Edwards entered in relief of
Danielle Ciliberto (Ambler, Pa./Wissahickon), who had started and worked the first four innings, allowing two unearned runs on three hits, while striking out three.
Up Next
West Chester will be back in action early tomorrow morning for its final doubleheader in the Sunshine State against Ursuline at 9 a.m. before facing Goldey-Beacom at 11:15 a.m.
