LOCK HAVEN, Pa.- The West Chester University softball team (18-16, 8-8) went on the road on Saturday afternoon for an important PSAC East doubleheader against Lock Haven (21-13, 11-7). West Chester dropped game one by a 10-2 final in six innings before falling by an 8-7 final in eight innings in the series finale despite erasing a two-run deficit with a furious comeback in the top of the seventh.
Game One: Lock Haven 10 WCU 2 (6 Innings)
WP: Talia Ross (13-4)
LP: Maci Strechay (2-7)
Olivia LaMeau gave Lock Haven an early 1-0 lead with an RBI double in the first before
Mairead Hopkins (West Chester, Pa./Rustin) helped West Chester answer quickly with a solo home run to right center to tie the game at 1-1.
Lock Haven took a 5-1 lead into the third after a pair of second-inning home runs and stretched its lead to 6-1 in the third with an RBI triple to right center.
Hopkins drove in her second run of the game in the sixth with a sac fly to right, which cut the deficit to 6-2 before Lock Haven scored four in the home half of the sixth on a two-RBI and another two-RBI double to take a 10-2 lead and win the game in six innings.
Maci Strechay (Collegeville, Pa./Perkiomen Valley) (2-7) suffered the loss after allowing five runs on six hits, while striking out one in 1.1 innings of work.
Alyssa Tooley (Horsham, Pa./Hatboro-Horsham) entered in relief and allowed one run on three hits and a walk in 3.2 innings of work before
Jaelyn Silfies (Bangor, Pa./Bangor) entered in relief in the sixth and allowed four runs on three hits and a walk, while striking out one.
Talia Ross (13-4) earned her 13
th win of the season, allowing two runs on three hits and a walk, while striking out eight in the complete-game victory.
Game Two LHU 8 WCU 7 (8 Innings)
WP: Talia Ross (14-4)
LP: Alyssa Tooley (6-2)
In the nightcap,
Danielle Ciliberto (Ambler, Pa./Wissahickon) gave West Chester its first lead of the afternoon with an RBI single, which scored Hopkins before
Julia Miller (Moorestown, N.J./Moorestown) found her way home on an errant throw after stealing third to give West Chester a 2-0 lead. Ciliberto went to third on the play, which allowed her to score on a
Tess Kearney (Hatboro, Pa./Hatboro-Horsham) sac fly to give West Chester a 3-0 lead.
Lock Haven countered in the home half of the third with an RBI single and a two-RBI double to tie the game at 3-3.
West Chester was undeterred as the Golden Rams answered with two runs in the fourth on an RBI single by
Emma Zoldi (Newtown, Pa./Council Rock North) and a sac fly from Hopkins to take a 5-3 lead into the bottom of the fourth.
Lock Haven answered with a four-run sixth inning with a bases-clearing double and another double to take a 7-5 lead into the top of the seventh.
West Chester answered in the seventh with an RBI double by Ciliberto and an RBI single by Kearney, which tied the game at 7-7 heading into the home half of the seventh.
Lock Haven loaded the bases to start the inning and lifted a fly ball into center, which the Bald Eagles hoped would be deep enough for the winning run, but Kearney came up throwing and got the out at the plate for a vital double play, which eventually forced extra innings to decide a winner.
After a scoreless top of the eighth, Lock Haven worked three straight walks and won the nightcap on a walk-off single up the middle as the Bald Eagles held off the Golden Rams for an 8-7 win and an important doubleheader sweep to split the season series.
Ciliberto got the start for West Chester and allowed six runs on 10hits, while walking one and striking out five in 5.1 innings of work. Tooley suffered her second loss of the season in relief, allowing two runs on five hits and two walks in 1.2 of an inning. Silfies entered in relief and allowed a walk and the game-winning RBI single without recording an out.
Talia Ross earned her second win of the day and 14
th of the season in relief as she pitched a scoreless 1.2 innings, allowing just one hit, while striking out four. Keiva Middleton got the start and allowed five runs (four earned) on five hits and three walks, while striking out one. Faith Persing allowed two runs on three hits and a walk in 2.1 innings of work.
Up Next
West Chester will be back in action on the road on Tuesday at East Stroudsburg, beginning at 1 p.m.
