MILLERSVILLE, Pa.- Riding a seven-game winning streak, the West Chester University softball team (13-4, 1-1) picked up an important split to open PSAC East play against Millersville (17-5, 1-1) on Tuesday afternoon. Both games took 10 innings to decide a victor and
Lauryn Kane (Plymouth Meeting, Pa./Plymouth Whitemarsh) played the hero in game one as her two-run home run lifted West Chester to the 8-6 victory before the Golden Rams fell in the nightcap by a 6-5 final.
Game One: WCU 8 Millersville 6
WP: Makenzie Edwards (5-1)
LP: Delaney Troxell (4-2)
Paige Marabell (Tunkhannock, Pa./Tunkhannock) gave West Chester an early two-run lead with a two-run home run to left field.
This two-run advantage was short-lived as the Marauders cut the lead in half in the home half of the second on a throwing error before scoring four unanswered in the fourth to take a 5-2 lead.
Trailing by three with two outs,
Mairead Hopkins (West Chester, Pa./Rustin) laced a single to right center, which scored
Hailey Melvin (Tabernacle, N.J./Seneca) and
Presley Foote (Yardley, Pa./Pennsbury) to make the score 5-4.
Following a fielding error, which allowed
Julia Miller (Moorestown, N.J./Moorestown) to reach, Kane doubled home a pair to give West Chester a 6-5 lead heading into the bottom of the seventh.
Millersville worked some two-out magic of its own in the seventh, scoring a tying run on a double to right center before getting the game-winning run to third after another Golden Ram error.
Edwards escaped the jam with a foul-out to first to force extra innings to decide a winner.
After a scoreless eighth and ninth inning, the international tie-breaker rule took effect in the 10
th as Hopkins was placed on second to begin the inning. Millersville got its first out of the inning via a Miller strikeout before Kane delivered with a towering two-run home run to left center, which gave the Golden Rams the decisive 4-2 lead.
Edwards worked a 1,2,3 bottom of the 10
th, including two of her eight strikeouts in relief as she picked up her fifth win of the season.
Danielle Ciliberto (Ambler, Pa./Wissahickon) got the start and lasted just 3.1 innings, allowing four runs (one earned) on three hits and a walk while striking out a pair. Edwards entered in relief and was dominant, allowing just two runs (one earned) on four this and two walks in 6.2 innings of work, while striking out 10.
Nicolina Pezzone took the no-decision for Millerville, allowing six runs (four earned) on eight hits, while striking out five in seven innings. Troxell (4-2) suffered her second loss of the year in relief, allowing two runs (one earned) on just one hit, while striking out seven in three innings.
Game Two: Millersville 6 WCU 5
WP: Delaney Troxell (5-2)
LP: Makenzie Edwards (5-2)
West Chester took an early 1-0 lead in the nightcap when
Casey Best (Wilmington, Del./Concord) reached on an error, allowing Hopkins to score.
Millersville countered quickly in the home first, using a two-out double to tie the game at 1-1.
West Chester snuck back out to a 2-1 lead in the third inning when Best singled to left to score Hopkins before Millersville pushed across three runs in the home half on two hits and two errors to claim a 4-2 lead.
Miller did not allow her team to trail for long, driving a two-out, bases-loaded single through the left side of the infield, which scored Melvin and
Tess Kearney (Hatboro, Pa./Hatboro-Horsham), tying the game at 4-4 heading into the home half of the fourth.
Millersville had an answer yet again, getting an RBI single through the left side of its own in the fifth to take a 5-4 lead into the sixth inning.
In the home half of the seventh, Miller worked a leadoff walk and advanced to second on a passed ball before moving to third on a Kane ground out, placing the tying run just 60 feet away with one out. After a Best pop-up, Marabell doubled to right field, scoring Miller and tying the game at 5-5 with two outs in the seventh. Hoping to avoid extra innings for the second time in as many games, West Chester turned to
Ella Heap (York, Pa./Central York) as a pinch-runner with Ciliberto at the plate. Millersville escaped the inning without any further damage, retaining a shot to win the game before extra innings in the home half of the seventh.
After a scoreless seventh, West Chester and Millersville went to extra innings for the second consecutive game.
West Chester had a runner on second in both the eighth and 10
th and a runner on third with two outs in the ninth, but Millersville tight-roped out of danger both times to keep the score locked at 5-5.
In the home half of the 10
th, Millersville took advantage of the runner on second to start the inning to push across the game-winning run with a one-out sacrifice fly to center to earn a 6-5 win and pick up an important 6-5 victory.
Alyssa Tooley (Horsham, Pa./Hatboro-Horsham) got the start and allowed four runs (two earned) on four hits while striking out one in two innings of work. Ciliberto tossed the next 2.1, allowing just one run on four this, while striking out two before Edwards entered in relief once again and pitched the next 5.1, allowing just two hits and one run while walking one and striking out six.
Troxell earned the win in relief, pitching the final 4.1, allowing just one run on three hits and one walk while striking out three.
Up Next:
West Chester will be back in action on Saturday afternoon at Lock Haven beginning at 1 p.m.
