West Chester vs Kutztown
Game Details: March 25 I 1/3:30 P.M.
Location: South Campus Softball Field (West Chester, Pa.)
Series: 35-48 (Since 2005)
Coverage Links: Live Stats I Watch
WCU Links: NEWS I ROSTER I SCHEDULE I STATS
Kutztown Links: NEWS I ROSTER I SCHEDULE I STATS
Last Time Out
West Chester went 3-1 last weekend, posting a split at Lock Haven and a sweep of Jefferson in its non-league finale. At Lock Haven on Saturday, West Chester captured game one by an 18-2 final in five innings before dropping the nightcap by a 3-2 final. On Sunday at Jefferson, West Chester won game one 5-3 before taking the nightcap by a 7-0 final. Casey Best (Wilmington, Del./Concord) was 6-for-13 (.462) at the plate over the weekend with a double and a home run for three RBI and four runs scored. Mairead Hopkins (West Chester, Pa./Rustin) batted just .267 (4-for-15) on the weekend, but three of those four hits were for extra bases, including two home runs and one double as she drove in six and scored three more runs. In the circle, Makenzie Edwards (Atco, N.J./Hammonton) picked up two wins in 12.0 innings of work in three appearances with one start while posting a 1.17 ERA and a .150 opponents batting average with 10 strikeouts. Jaelyn Silfies (Bangor, Pa./Bangor) also earned a win on Sunday, pitching five strong innings at Jefferson, allowing just four hits while striking out one as the Rams batted just .211 against her. Alyssa Tooley (Horsham, Pa./Hatboro-Horsham) closed out the game two victory over Jefferson with two shutout innings and two strikeouts for her first save.
Flock Talk
Paige Marabell (Tunkhannock, Pa./Tunkhannock) is first on the team in a number of offensive categories, including batting average (.388; 26-for-67) with 13 extra-base hits, including six doubles, one triple, and six home runs, which is tied with Mairead Hopkins (West Chester, Pa./Rustin) for best on the team. Marabell is also first in RBI with 25, while Hopkins leads the team in runs with 22 along with a team-best 29 hits, including 14 extra-base hits (eight doubles, six home runs) for 22 RBI. Danielle Ciliberto (Ambler, Pa./Wissahickon) is second in batting average, batting .375 (15-for-40) with one double and six RBI, while Hopkins is third, batting .363 (29-for-80). Casey Best (Wilmington, Del./Concord) and Julia Miller (Moorestown, N.J./Moorestown) are the final two Golden Rams batting north of .300 at .352 on the year with 25 hits in 71 at-bats each. Miller has two doubles and a triple in these 25 hits, while Best has six doubles and a pair of home runs.
In the circle, Makenzie Edwards (Atco, N.J./Hammonton) is 7-2 on the year with a 2.33 ERA, a 0.98 WHIP, and a .201 opponents batting average with 48 strikeouts in 58 innings of work, including two complete games and two saves. Ciliberto is 6-3 with a 2.56 ERA, a 1.01 WHIP, and a .228 opponent batting average with 45 strikeouts in 63.1 innings of work this season. Alyssa Tooley (Horsham, Pa./Hatboro-Horsham) and Jaelyn Silfies (Bangor, Pa./Bangor) have both been pleasant surprises for West Chester early in their rookie seasons, both recording victories early with opponents batting sub-.200 (.188 and .182, respectively) in their rookie seasons.
Road Warriors
Fifteen of the Golden Rams' 16 wins have come away from home this season. West Chester is 8-3 in true road games, including a split at then top-10 foe Wilmington to open the year, and 7-1 in neutral site games after its Florida trip.
Home Sweet Home
West Chester returns home this week for its second and third doubleheaders of the young season. West Chester is 1-1 at home so far this season after splitting a doubleheader with Holy Family in early March and was 13-8 in games on South Campus a season ago, including a 9-5 record in league play after winning four of five at home to end the regular season.
Back At It
West Chester wrapped up non-league play on Sunday with a sweep of Jefferson and will jump right back into PSAC East play against Kutztown on Tuesday afternoon beginning at 1 p.m.
Power Surge
West Chester is outscoring its opponents 140-64 this season, including a 46-12 advantage during its Spring Break trip to Florida earlier this month.
Climbing the Ranks
As she closes in on her 100th career hit (93 hits), Hopkins continues her march up the home run chart with 18 on her career, passing former assistant coach Laura Altenburger on the chart over the weekend. Hopkins hit 10 home runs last season and has six already this year as she chases Kristin Smereczynski and Alyssa Herion, who are atop the chart with 29 each. Hopkins is one home run away from tying Sam Ingersoll for eighth all-time and two away from matching Heidi McCollester and Megan Harbaugh for a tie for sixth all-time (20).
In the circle, Ciliberto is sixth in career wins at 44-18, with six wins already in 2025. The junior pitcher has also pitched 399.1 innings for the Golden Rams with 293 strikeouts, which is seventh and sixth-best in team history. Edwards is ninth in career wins at 34-22, with seven wins already in 2025. Edwards has struck out 278 in 353.2 innings of work, ranking seventh in strikeouts, and just passed Heather Packer (353.1;1995-96) for 10th in career history in innings pitched.
Knock, Knock
West Chester is on the cusp of the top-25 after going 4-2 last week, including a pair of splits at Millersville and Lock Haven to open league play, along with a sweep of Jefferson. West Chester received nine votes a week ago, the most of any team receiving votes and will wait until tomorrow to learn if it’s 4-2 week was enough to climb into the top-25.
Renewing the Rivalry
Since 2005, West Chester trails Kutztown 48-35 in the all-time series, although the two rivals have split the last six meetings. West Chester took one game in each doubleheader a year ago and wrapped up the season series with a 9-4 victory over Kutztown in the PSAC Tournament in Quakertown en route to its third PSAC Tournament crown since 2017. West Chester’s last sweep of Kutztown came in April 2023 by a 1-0 and 10-2 final, while the last sweep at the hands of Kutztown was in April 2022 when the team fell to the Golden Bears by 8-1 and 4-1 finals.
Scouting Kutztown
Kutztown enters play riding a two-game winning streak after sweeping a doubleheader from Mansfield on Friday to bounce back from a sweep vs East Stroudsburg to open league play last Tuesday. Against Mansfield on Friday, Kutztown took game one by a 5-2 final behind an excellent pitching performance from Haley Gravish, who allowed just two runs on five hits and two walks while striking out eight. Sarah Harvat singled home a pair of runs while Alexa Stevens doubled home two more in the fifth to break open a 2-2 game heading into the home half of the fifth. In the nightcap, Amanda Slabicki earned the 3-2 win, pitching 6.2 shutout innings, allowing just four hits, while striking out five on 74 pitches. Kutztown erased an early two-run deficit with a pair of first-inning runs thanks to a single from Stevens and a wild pitch before a Samantha Paetow ground out in the fifth broke the 2-2 tie and lifted the Golden Bears to the one-run victory.
Emily Henn is first on the team offensively, batting .436 (34-for-78) with seven extra-base hits, including three doubles, three home runs, and one home run with 22 runs scored and 12 RBI. Batting .338 (25-for-74), which is fourth-best on the team, Stevens leads the team in runs (23) and RBI (20), while Morgan Slomkowski has a team-best six home runs to her credit with 20 runs scored 18 RBI, and a .367 (22-for-60) batting average.
In the circle, Gravish is a staff-best 9-2 with a 2.08 ERA and a .260 opponents batting average with 64 strikeouts and seven complete games to her name. Amanda Slabicki and Abbey Wagner are both unbeaten on the year as well, posting records of 4-0 and 3-0 on the year with 1.81 and 3.35 ERAs, along with .256 and .290 opponent batting averages in 31 and 23 innings of work.
