West Chester vs East Stroudsburg
Game Details: April 1 I 2/4 P.M.
Location: WCU Softball Field (West Chester, Pa.)
Coverage Links: Live Stats I Watch
Series: 90-86 (W2; 2-3 in last five)
WCU Links: NEWS I ROSTER I SCHEDULE I STATS
ESU Links: NEWS I ROSTER I SCHEDULE I STATS
Last Time Out
West Chester went 2-2 in league play last weekend, starting with a home sweep of Mansfield (W, 6-2; 8-0) on Friday. The team was then swept by Shippensburg (L, 4-0, 5-4) on the road on Saturday. After riding a pair of great pitching performances by Danielle Ciliberto (Ambler, Pa./Wissahickon) and Makenzie Edwards (Atco, N.J./Hammonton) along with multiple tripes from Hailey Melvin (Tabernacle, N.J./Seneca) to the sweep of Mansfield, West Chester ran into a hot Shippensburg team on Saturday afternoon. Shippensburg used the long ball to earn the sweep of West Chester on Saturday, hitting four home runs throughout the doubleheader, along with great pitching performances by Alicia Ball and Madalyn Dyer, to halt the red-hot Golden Rams.
Flock Talk
Seven of the Golden Rams' nine everyday starters are batting north of .300 as the calendar turns to April, led by Mairead Hopkins (West Chester, Pa./Rustin) and Ciliberto, who are batting .371 and .368, respectively. Hopkins continues to lead the team and rank among the top five players in the league in runs (30th), hits (38th), and RBI (29th). Casey Best (Wilmington, Del./Concord) is third on the team in batting average at .363, while both Golden Ram catchers, Paige Marabell (Tunkhannock, Pa./Tunkhannock) and Holly Muni (Hamilton, N.J./Allentown), are batting above .300 at .345 and .300, respectively, on the year.
In the circle, Ciliberto and Edwards have combined for 15 of the Golden Rams' 19 wins, posting records of 7-4 and 8-3 on the year with ERAs of 1.95 and 2.13, respectively. Edwards has a staff-best 60 strikeouts on the year, while opponents bat .213 against her. Ciliberto has 58 strikeouts and a .233 opponents' batting average against. Alyssa Tooley (Horsham, Pa./Hatboro-Horsham) is 3-1 on the year with a 1.97 ERA and a .217 opponents batting average after suffering her first loss at Shippensburg over the weekend.
Rank and File
West Chester debuted in the National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) Top 25 last week, tied for 25th. West Chester went 3-3 on the week, including a split vs No. 16 Kutztown at home on Tuesday and a sweep of Mansfield at home on Friday. West Chester will face another nationally ranked foe on Tuesday in No. 11 East Stroudsburg. ESU went 4-0 last week with sweeps of Lock Haven and Millersville, bouncing back from a split against Shepherd on March 22.
Late-Game Heroics
West Chester is 5-5 in PSAC East play after opening league action on March 18 with a split at Millersville. Of these 10 games, four have been decided in extra innings with another (the 7-6 victory over Kutztown last Tuesday) coming via a seventh-inning walk-off double by Melvin.
Winning at Home
West Chester improved to 4-2 this season at home on Friday with a sweep of Mansfield, which included a 6-2 victory in game one and an 8-0 win in game two.
Alright Hop!
Batting a team-best .371 with six home runs, 28 runs, and 24 RBI, Hopkins has caught the attention of the Division II softball world early this season as she was one of 15 players from the Atlantic Region named to the NFCA Division II Player of the Year watchlist, which was released last week.
Series History
West Chester retains a slim 90-86 lead in the all-time series vs East Stroudsburg after posting two wins over the Warriors during the PSAC Tournament in Quakertown last May. West Chester is 3-2 vs ESU in the last five meetings. Since 2021, when the two teams have played in West Chester, the Golden Rams have split each doubleheader, posting a record of 4-4 in such games.
Scouting ESU
No. 11 East Stroudsburg (25-5, 9-1) enters play on a four-game winning streak after sweeping doubleheaders from Lock Haven and Millersville last week. Against Lock Haven on Tuesday, ESU started off with a 1- 0 victory over the Bald Eagles before winning the nightcap by a 10-2 final in five innings. At Millersville on Friday, ESU took the opener by a 6-1 final in eight innings before winning game two 6-3 to improve to 9-1 in league action.
Offensively, Tatum Kresley, Delaney Ridgell, and Abigail Weirich are first, second, and third on the team in batting average, with averages of .439, .415, and .414, respectively, on the season. Ridgell leads the team in home runs with six, which is tied with Katie Master for best on the squad. In the circle, Sarah Davenport has proven herself to be one of the best pitchers in the Atlantic Region once again, going a perfect 17-0 through 16 starts with 15 complete games and a 0.77 ERA, along with an opponent's batting average of .145. A multi-time PSAC East and NFCA Pitcher of the Week honoree already this season, Davenport has already recorded 189 strikeouts. Abbie Landrum is 4-0 with a 0.87 ERA and a .238 opponents batting average in 11 relief appearances, while Faith Troyer is the other starter for ESU, going 3-3 with a 5.10 ERA and a .321 opponents batting average in nine starts (11 appearances) this season.
