WEST CHESTER, Pa.- The West Chester University softball team (24-18, 14-10) is set to return to action at the end of this week for a pair of important PSAC East doubleheaders against Kutztown (28-16, 17-7) and East Stroudsburg (26-16, 14-10) as the Golden Rams continue to fight for a spot in the PSAC Tournament when play begins on May 6. West Chester will host both the Golden Bears and Warriors on Thursday and Friday on South Campus, with both doubleheaders beginning at 1 p.m.
West Chester vs Kutztown
Game Details: April 23 I 1 & 3 P.M.
Location: WCU Softball Field
Series: 37-51
Coverage Links: Live Stats I Watch
WCU Links: NEWS I ROSTER I SCHEDULE I STATS
Kutztown Links: NEWS I ROSTER I SCHEDULE I STATS
West Chester vs East Stroudsburg
Game Details: April 23 I 1 & 3 P.M.
Location: WCU Softball Field
Series: 92-91
Coverage Links: Live Stats I Watch
ESU Links: NEWS I ROSTER I SCHEDULE I STATS
Last Time Out
West Chester swept a doubleheader from Millersville on Tuesday to split the season series with the Marauders, capturing game one by a 10-8 final after jumping out to a 10-1 lead before capturing the nightcap by a 7-6 final after leading 7-3 entering the seventh. In the opener,
Alyssa Tooley (Horsham, Pa./Hatboro-Horsham) worked an inning in relief and earned her ninth win of the season, while
Maci Strechay (Collegeville, Pa./Perkiomen Valley) pitched the final three innings to earn her fifth save of the season. Offensively,
Tess Kearney (Hatboro, Pa./Hatboro-Horsham) led the way for West Chester as she was 4-for-5 with a run and four RBI, while
Mairead Hopkins (West Chester, Pa./Rustin) scored a team-high three runs with a pair of walks. In the nightcap,
Jaelyn Silfies (Bangor, Pa./Bangor) earned her first win of the season with 2.2 innings in relief of Strechay, which saw her allow just two walks, while striking out three.
Danielle Ciliberto (Ambler, Pa./Wissahickon) had started game one and returned in relief in game two, and pitched the final 2.2 innings, allowing three runs on five hits and a walk to earn her fourth save of the year.
Julia Miller (Moorestown, N.J./Moorestown) was 3-for-3 in the victory with two RBI and a run scored, while also working an important walk.
Flock Talk
Hopkins is batting a team-best .394 on the season with 54 hits, including 21 extra-base hits (13 doubles, seven home runs, and a triple) for 46 runs and 30 RBI, while also going 7-for-7 on stolen base attempts. Kearney is batting .336 with 44 hits, including seven doubles, a triple, and a home run, driving in 25 runs and scoring 29more, while Ciliberto is close behind, batting .331 with 25 RBI and 12 runs.
Ceara O'Neal (Hamilton, N.J./Steinert) hit her fifth home run of the year on Tuesday and is batting .319 with 38 hits, including 10 doubles and five triples, driving in 27 runs and scoring 17 more.
In the circle, Ciliberto is 10-7 with a 2.96 ERA and a .298 batting average against with 64 strikeouts in 116 innings, including four saves, four complete games, and a pair of shutouts. Tooley is 9-3 with a 3.44 ERA and a .258 batting average against with 38 strikeouts in 63 innings of work, while Strechay is continuing her strong rookie season at 4-8 with a team-best five saves and a 3.49 ERA along with a .289 batting average against with 47 strikeouts in 86.1 innings of work.
Chasing History
Hopkins hit a home run in a doubleheader sweep of Mansfield last Friday and, in doing so, moved into a tie for second in team history in career home runs with 28, matching Cat Hammer's career mark. The senior outfielder is one home run shy of tying Alyssa Herion and Kristin Smererczynski for first on the chart and two shy of taking over first place on the career home run chart after hitting 10 as a sophomore and nine more in her junior season.
Mother Nature's Way
Thursday's doubleheader was originally slated for Saturday afternoon in West Chester on what would have been Senior Day, but was proactively moved to Thursday due to rain in the forecast throughout the upcoming weekend and potentially into next week.
The Playoff Picture
West Chester is currently tied for fourth with East Stroudsburg in the PSAC standings entering the final four series of the 2026 campaign against Kutztown, ESU, Shepherd, and Bloomsburg, all of whom are vying for spots in the PSAC Tournament. Shepherd is 14-12 in league play and trailing WCU, but the Rams currently hold the tiebreak after a doubleheader sweep in West Chester earlier this Spring. West Chester and ESU are tied at 14-10, but the Golden Rams currently hold a tiebreaker over the Warriors after sweeping the doubleheader at ESU earlier this month. Kutztown is atop the East at 17-7, while Shippensburg and Lock Haven (both of whom West Chester split the season series with) are chasing at 15-9 and 15-11, respectively. The top five teams from the PSAC East will qualify for the Conference Championships, which are being played at Grand Slam Park in Binghamton, New York, this spring after many years in nearby Quakertown.
Series History
Against Kutztown, West Chester trails the Golden Bears 51-37 in the all-time series after a split at Kutztown earlier this season, as the two teams have now split each of the last 12 games against one another. When the two teams met in West Chester last March, West Chester dropped the first game by a 6-3 final before winning the nightcap 7-6 behind a walkoff double from
Hailey Melvin. Earlier this season, West Chester dropped game one to Kutztown by a 4-3 final in 10 innings before bouncing back with a 4-3 win in the nightcap after a solo home run by Hopkins in the top of the seventh, which gave West Chester an important 4-2 lead heading into the home half of the seventh.
Against East Stroudsburg, West Chester holds a slim 92-91 lead over ESU after picking up its first sweep of ESU since April 2018, when the team won 9-1 and 7-4 in the final two games of a regular-season sweep over ESU. With the two wins at Creekview Park earlier this season, West Chester also halted a five-game losing streak to the Warriors and posted its first win over ESU since an 11-7 victory in the PSAC Championship game in May 2024.
Scouting Kutztown
Atop the PSAC East at 28-16 overall and 17-7 in league play, Kutztown enters play on Thursday following a Tuesday split with East Stroudsburg (W, 7-6; L, 6-5), which halted a six-game winning streak that included sweeps of Bloomsburg and Lock Haven and splits against Shepherd and ESU.
Offensively, Emily Henn is batting a team-best .409 at the plate with 67 hits, including 14 doubles, seven home runs, and four triples, driving in 34 runs and scoring 40 more. Morgan Slomkowski is next on the team, batting .310 with 49 hits, including nine home runs, six doubles, and two triples, scoring 27 runs and driving in 37 more, which is tied with Henn for first on the team.
In the circle, Haley Gravish is 18-6 with a 2.45 ERA and a .252 batting average against with 81 strikeouts in 143 innings, including 12 complete games and three shutouts. Amanda Slabicki is next at 5-8 with a 3.05 ERA and a .278 batting average against with 50 strikeouts in 105.2 innings, while Abbey Wagner is 5-2 with a 3.63 ERA in 45 innings of work.
Scouting ESU
East Stroudsburg enters play on Friday at 26-16 overall and 14-10 in league play after the aforementioned split with Kutztown on Tuesday afternoon. ESU entered the Kutztown doubleheader with wins in four of six after sweeping doubleheaders from Shepherd and Millersville after being swept by West Chester at home on April 14.
Delaney Ridgell and Kinsley Proepper remain first and second on the team in batting average at .427 and .425 with 56 and 51 hits, respectively. Ridgell is tied for first on the team in home runs with eight, matching Megan Chroniger, who is batting .315 with 39 hits, including eight home runs, seven doubles, and five triples with 39 RBI and 28 runs scored.
In the circle, Sarah Davenport is the team leader at 17-8 with a 1.63 ERA and a .180 batting average against with 214 strikeouts in 155 innings, including 20 complete games and eight shutouts. Tessa Guenette is next at 8-4 on the year with a 3.92 ERA and a .285 batting average against with 38 strikeouts in 78.2 innings, including five complete games.
Up Next
West Chester will return to action next Friday for its final road trip of the 2026 regular season, with a visit to Shepherd on Friday, May 1, before hosting Bloomsburg on Saturday, May 2, on what will be Senior Day in West Chester.
