WEST CHESTER, PA – West Chester scored a combined 27 runs on 25 hits to sweep a doubleheader from visiting Mansfield in a pair of games shortened to five innings.
Tess Kearney (Hatboro, Pa./Hatboro-Horsham) finished the twinbill 4-for-6 with two doubles and an RBI.
Emma Zoldi (Newtown, Pa./Council Rock North) went 3-for-3 in the opener with a two-run single in the fourth.
West Chester (22-16, 12-8 PSAC East) swept its second conference doubleheader of the week following a sweep over East Stroudsburg on Tuesday, while Mansfield (5-25, 2-20) dropped its third and fourth consecutive games. The Golden Rams captured the season series from the Mountaineers, winning all four contests.
The hosts used an eight-run fourth inning and then turned the ball over to starter
Maci Strechay (Collegeville, Pa./Perkiomen Valley) in the fifth to finish out her three-hit shutout in the circle for the 8-0 win in game one. It was another eight-run frame in the night cap, this time the second inning, that propelled West Chester to a 10-0 advantage. The Golden Rams then scored nine runs on eight hits in the fourth inning to walk away from the Mounties, 19-2, when things settled down.
GAME ONE: WCU 8 Mansfield 0
WP: Strechay (4-7)
LP: Maurer (2-5)
Strechay and Mansfield starter Emma Maurer were locked in quite a pitcher's duel in the opener until things unraveled for Maurer in the fourth. West Chester benefitted from six walks and scored two runs on the same wild pitch in that fateful fourth. Mansfield's two pitchers walked in three of the runs, Kearney hit a RBI double and Zoldi's two-run single accounted for the other scores.
Strechay (4-7) went the distance, walking one and striking out five in the three-hit shutout. Maurer (2-5) suffered the loss in the circle, allowing seven runs – only two of them earned – on five hits. She walked seven batters, though, against five strikeouts.
GAME TWO: WCU 19 MANSFIELD 2
WP: Alyssa Tooley (8-2)
LP: Reilly Storer (1-6)
Mairead Hopkins (West Chester, Pa./Rustin) led off the contest with a home run to left center field that was a no-doubter, and
Kayla Fitzpatrick (Carle Place, N.Y./Sacred Heart Academy) singled home
Julia Miller (Moorestown, N.J./Moorestown) to stake West Chester to an early 2-0 lead after one.
Fitzpatrick doubled in two more runs in the second, and
Ceara O'Neal (Hamilton, N.J., /Steinert) hit a RBI double to highlight the Golden Rams' eight-run second. Hopkins was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded to force home another run, and
Danielle Ciliberto (Ambler, Pa./Wissahickon) and
Holly Muni (Hamilton, N.J./Allentown) each hit sacrifice flies to score a pair of runs. Miller scored the other run with a single up the middle.
Muni hit an RBI double in the fourth, and Hopkins plated two runs with a double during the nine-run frame.
Natalie Colwell (Mount Joy, Pa./Donegal) and
Alexa Paradis (Newbury Park, Ca./Newbury Park) each added RBI doubles in the fourth as well.
Riley Wiercinski (Avondale, Pa./Avon Grove) hit her first collegiate home run in that big fourth inning, a towering two-run shot to center, which extended the lead to 19-2 heading into the fifth.
Alyssa Tooley (Horsham, Pa./Hatboro-Horsham) improved to 8-2 in the circle, throwing the first three innings and yielding just one run on three hits. She walked one and struck out three.
Jaelyn Silfies (Bangor, Pa./Bangor) threw the final two innings, allowing one run on two hits. She walked two and struck out one.
Up Next
West Chester heads to Shippensburg University on Saturday for a pivotal conference doubleheader against the Raiders beginning at 1 p.m.
