West Chester at Kutztown
Game Details: April 15 I 1/3 P.M.
Location: North Campus Softball Field (Kutztown, Pa.)
Coverage Links: Live Stats I Watch
Series: 36-49 (Since 2005)
WCU Links: NEWS I ROSTER I SCHEDULE I STATS
Kutztown Links: NEWS I ROSTER I SCHEDULE I STATS
Last Time Out
West Chester improved to 11-9 in league action with an important sweep of Lock Haven (W, 15-0/5-4) on Monday afternoon on South Campus. West Chester took game one by a 15-0 final in four innings after scoring 13 runs in the fourth inning, ending the game with 13 hits as the offense came alive in the victory. Danielle Ciliberto earned her 12th win of the year in the circle, allowing just two hits and a walk in the five-inning victory.
In the nightcap, West Chester jumped out to a 3-0 first-inning lead with RBI singles by Casey Best and Julia Miller before the Bald Eagles scored four unanswered, including solo home runs in the second and fourth innings to take a 4-3 lead. Ciliberto tied the game at 4-4 with a solo home run of her own in the fifth before Marabell played the hero once again with an RBI single to left in the seventh to score Tess Kearney, who had singled to short to open the inning. Alyssa Tooley (4-1) earned the win in relief, striking out three in scoreless innings of work as she helped West Chester improve to 25-12 overall and 11-9 in league action.
Flock Talk
Marabell and Hopkins remain the team leaders in batting average at .360 and .359 on the year, with OPSs of 1.101 and 1.051, respectively. Hopkins has a team-best 46 hits while also leading the team in runs with 31, while Marabell leads the team in RBI (35) and extra-base hits (20) with 12 doubles, one triple, and seven home runs on the year. Ciliberto, Best, and Miller are also batting north of .300 on the season, batting .349, .342, and .303, respectively.
In the circle, Ciliberto leads the staff at 12-5 with a 1.91 ERA and a .249 opponents’ batting average with 73 strikeouts in 113.2 innings of work, including seven complete games and two shutouts. Makenzie Edwards leads the staff in strikeouts with 74 in 90.2 innings of work, including three complete games, while posting a record of 8-6 with a 2.70 ERA and a .230 opponents batting average. Tooley has proven herself an excellent weapon out of the bullpen for head coach Diane Lokey and the Golden Rams, improving to 4-1 on the year with a 2.65 ERA and a .232 opponents batting average in 31.2 innings of work with 25 strikeouts.
That’s More Like It
After suffering a five-game losing streak in early April, which dropped West Chester to 5-8 in league play, West Chester seems to have found its stride once again, winning four of the last six, including a sweep of Bloomsburg on South Campus on Wednesday afternoon.
Late Inning Heroics
West Chester is 11-9 in PSAC East play after opening league action on March 18 with a split at Millersville. Six of these 20 games have been decided in extra innings, with two more (the 7-6 victory over Kutztown on March 25 and the 5-4 game two victory over Lock Haven on Monday) coming via a seventh-inning walk-off double by Hailey Melvin. West Chester nearly found itself in extra innings for a sixth time and second time in as many games in the nightcap with Bloomsburg on Wednesday, but Tooley entered in relief and got a big strikeout to help West Chester leave the Huskies' tying run stranded on second.
Series History
Since 2005, West Chester trails Kutztown 49-36 in the all-time series, although the two rivals have split the last eight meetings. West Chester also split a home doubleheader earlier this season, dropping game one by a 6-3 final before winning the nightcap 7-6 in dramatic fashion. Last season, West Chester took one game in each doubleheader 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 on Tuesday coming off a sweep of Mansfield on Sunday, winning game one by a 6-1 final before capturing the nightcap by an 11-7 final at the Mounties.
Emily Henn and Sarah Harvat are first and second on the team offensively, batting .416 and .359 on the year through 39 and 35 games. With 57 hits, Henn has seven doubles, three triples, and four home runs to her name along with 25 RBI and 35 runs scored while Morgan Slomkowski (.343) leads the team in home runs with 10 for 32 RBI on the season, while also tying for the team lead in runs (35). Alexa Stevens leads the team in RBI with 35 as she is batting .308 (40-for-13) with four doubles, three triples, and five home runs.
In the circle, Haley Gravish is 17-5 with a 2.64 ERA and a .263 opponents batting average with 119 strikeouts in 135 innings of work, including 15 complete games. Abbey Wagner and Amanda Slabicki are 4-2 and 5-0 on the year with ERAs of 3.24 and 3.41 and opponent batting averages of .308 and .311.
