WILSON, N.C.- The West Chester University softball team (0-2) opened its 2026 season on Friday afternoon in North Carolina at the Barton Bulldog Round Robin against Fairmont State (2-0) and Barton (3-3). West Chester held early leads in both games on Friday, but late-inning comebacks proved costly as the Golden Rams fell to Fairmont State by a 7-4 final before falling to Barton 3-2 in extra innings.
Game One: Fairmont State 7 WCU 4
WP: Micah Wilson (1-0)
LP: Danielle Ciliberto (0-1)
S: Phoebe Rusnak (1)
Fairmont State opened the game with a single before West Chester got its first out of the second on a ground ball to second. With one out, the Falcons laced a single into center, and Bella Hess, who had led the game off with a single, tried to score from second but was thrown out at the plate on a perfect throw from
Tess Kearney (Hatboro, Pa./Hatboro-Horsham) to a waiting
Paige Marabell (Tunkhannock, Pa./Tunkhannock) for a big second out. Emma Paul, who had singled to center, advanced to second on the throw and got to third via a wild pitch but was unable to score as
Danielle Ciliberto (Ambler, Pa./Wissahickon) escaped the inning with a line-out to second.
Mairead Hopkins (West Chester, Pa./Rustin) started her senior season with a leadoff home run in the home half of the first as she drove the 3-1 offering over the right field fence, and Kearney followed it up with a second up the middle to keep the pressure on early. Sophomore Caitlin Morey settled down after this and got the next two outs via a strikeout and a fly out before
Avelyn Van Heyst (Aaronsburg, Pa./Penns Valley) started her Golden Ram career with a two-out, six-pitch walk to keep the inning alive.
Lauryn Kane (Plymouth Meeting, Pa./Plymouth Whitemarsh) followed this up with a walk of her own, before the Falcons escaped the inning with a strikeout looking to keep the deficit at one and leave a trio of Golden Rams stranded.
Fairmont State started the top of the second with back-to-back singles, but West Chester escaped the inning with a 5-3 double play to keep the Falcons off the scoreboard heading into the home half of the second.
Julia Miller (Moorestown, N.J/Moorestown) started the second with a single and scored when
Emma Zoldi (Newtown, Pa./Council Rock North) doubled to stretch the lead to 2-0. Zoldi came around to score later after stealing third when Kearney picked up her second single of the afternoon to give the Golden Rams a 3-0 lead with one out in the bottom of the second. Kearney's RBI single ended Morey's day after just 1.1 as sophomore lefty Micah Wilson entered in relief. Wilson escaped the inning without any further damage and allowed Morey to finish with a final line of three runs on five hits and two walks, while striking out three in her first 1.1 of the 2026 season.
Now with a more comfortable lead, Ciliberto got two quick outs to open the third before allowing a single, but the senior escaped the inning with a ground ball to second to keep the Fighting Falcons off the scoreboard.
Fairmont State countered with the first 1,2,3 inning of the game to send the game on to the fourth inning.
West Chester got a pair of quick outs to open the fourth and nearly worked a 1,2,3 inning of its own before a throwing error extended the inning and eventually led to Fairmont State's first run of the game when senior catcher Abbie Keilholz singled to right to cut the lead to 3-1.
A Paul double helped Fairmont State cut the Golden Ram lead to one in the fifth after a leadoff single by Gabby Bibb, before Alexa Foresha helped the Fighting Falcons tie the game at 3-3 with a one-out single, which scored Paul. Breonna Marietta kept the line moving with a single, which forced head coach
Diane Lokey to turn to her bullpen with one out in the fifth inning as
Alyssa Tooley (Horsham, Pa./Hatboro-Horsham) entered in relief of Ciliberto. Fairmont State loaded the bases before Tooley got an important second out by way of a strikeout swinging. Just one pitch away from escaping the jam, Keilhoz laced a two-run single into center, which gave the Fighting Falcons their first lead of the afternoon at 5-3.
This single led to Ciliberto (0-1) finishing with a final line of five runs (four earned) on 10 hits and two walks in 4.1 innings of work to start her 2026 campaign.
West Chester escaped the top of the fifth when Marabell fired a strike to Miller to catch Hess trying to steal second, keeping the deficit at two heading into the home half of the fifth.
In the home fifth, West Chester loaded the bases courtesy of a walk, a pinch-hit
Gianna Liciardello (Philadelphia, Pa./Archbishop Carroll) single, and a hit by pitch, which led to another pitching change as Phoebe Rusnak entered in relief of Wilson to try and escape the bases-loaded jam. Rusnak got her first out and the second out of the inning via a pop up before escaping the inning with a fielder's choice to keep the two-run lead intact.
This shutdown effort kept Wilson in line for the win and allowed her to finish her afternoon with three scoreless innings of work, scattering just two hits, while striking out one.
In the top of the seventh, Kielhoz picked up another rRBI single, which extended the lead to 7-3 heading into the home half of the seventh.
In the home half, West Chester got down to its final out before
Roxy Smithson (Lititz, Pa./Warwick) doubled down the left field line, scoring
Megan Donnelly (Marlton, N.J./Cherokee), who had entered as a pinch runner for
Ceara O'Neal (Hamilton, N.J./Steinert) to cut the deficit to 7-4. West Chester got runners to second and third with two outs after a Miller single, but Rusnak escaped the inning without further damage as Fairmont State improved to 2-0 with a 7-4 comeback win over the Golden Rams.
While Ciliberto suffered her first loss of the season, Wilson (1-0) earned her first win of the season with her three shutout innings, while Rusnak picked up an eight-out save.
Game Two: Barton 3 WCU 2 (8 Innings)
In the nightcap, Hopkins gave West Chester an early 1-0 lead with a double to center, which scored Kearney, who had walked and stolen second to open the game.
Barton responded with a run of its own in the home half of the first to tie the game at 1-1 as Madison Merc plated Makenzie Cyz with a sac fly after Cyz had started the inning with a walk and advanced to third via aggressive baserunning on a well-placed sac bunt.
In the second, Miller reached with a one-out single and advanced to third when
Holly Muni (Hamilton, N.J./Allentown) ripped a single of her own, which allowed her to score on a wild pitch, which gave West Chester a 2-1 lead.
Barton capitalized on another defensive miscue in the third, scoring the tying run on a fielding error by the Golden Rams before
Maci Strechay (Collegeville, Pa./Perkiomen Valley) spun a double play ball to work out of the inning without further damage.
In the fourth, West Chester got a runner to third with one out but was unable to capitalize, and repeated this in the fifth inning. In the home fifth, Barton loaded the bases, but West Chester escaped the inning with a Ciliberto strikeout of Ols to keep the score locked at 2-2.
West Chester had one more strong chance at the top of the seventh, getting a runner on third with one out, but Barton escaped trouble once again to keep things tied heading into the bottom of the seventh.
Ciliberto worked around an early error in the home seventh to keep the Bulldogs off the scoreboard and force extra innings.
In the eighth, West Chester got runners on first and second with two outs after an O'Neal single and a Liciardello walk, but Haley Inman had an answer once again, coming through with another important strikeout to keep the score tied. In the home eighth, Barton wasted little time scoring the game-winning run with a Madison Merc single up the middle to hand West Chester a 3-2 loss in eight innings.
Strechay pitched well in her collegiate debut, scattering six hits and two runs (one earned) along with a walk and a pair of strikeouts in 4.1 innings of work. Ciliberto entered in relief and pitched 2.2 scoreless innings to help send the game to extra innings, striking out one in the process. Ciliberto allowed her lone hit in the eighth inning, which dropped the senior to 0-2 on the young season.
Inman was sharp for Barton on Friday, allowing just two runs on eight hits and three walks over eight innings, while striking out eight to earn the victory.
Up Next
West Chester will be back in action on Saturday morning for its final two games of opening weekend with rematches against Barton and Fairmont State beginning at 9:30 a.m.
