2 weeks Ago By Neil Geoghegan
WEST GOSHEN – For a softball program that’s won three conference titles and four NCAA Regional crowns in the last 11 years, very little can dampen West Chester’s comeback spirit and/or abilities. Not even if the Golden Rams’ are down to their last strike.That was the case Saturday in game one of a key home doubleheader against PSAC East foe Shippensburg.
Trailing by two in the bottom of the seventh inning, WCU’s Mairead Hopkins delivered a two-run double to tie the score, and then senior teammate Hailey Melvin followed it up with a run-scoring single to win it, 3-2.The Rams (15-11, 29-14 overall) entered the day in a tie for fourth place in the division and really needed the victory to bolster their postseason hopes. Especially after the visiting Raiders eked out a 4-3 triumph in the nightcap.
“We needed that win, and we pulled it off,” said Hopkins, a West Chester Rustin graduate.“It was very important to win game one, but we really wanted to win both,” added West Chester head coach Diane Lokey. “I was happy with the fight we showed in that game.
”The twinbill split means that the fifth-place Rams have won seven of the last nine – a good sign for a team that must finished in the top five in the division at the end of the regular season to secure a berth in the PSAC Tournament. The team has three doubleheaders to go, including road games at first-place East Stroudsburg and fourth-place Bloomsburg, and a home stand versus second-place Shepherd.“Our seniors have got to continue to step up, but we don’t have many.
We just have to find a way,” said Lokey, who is in her 18th season at the helm.“We are not looking at what other teams are doing and where we are in the standings,” Melvin added. “If we play our game and stay within ourselves, we will get there.
”With just two hits in the opening six innings of game one, WCU drew two walks and were down to its last out when Hopkins stepped up to the plate in the seventh. After two quick strikes, it was do-or-die time.“At 0-2 I knew I had to fight,” she said.
“And when it was 3-2 I knew I had to be aggressive but also disciplined.“It was just see-ball, hit-ball – keep swinging and stay in attack mode. I had faith in myself.
”Moments later Hopkins scored the winning run on Melvin’s single, which came on the first pitch.“Since (Shippensburg pitcher Alicia Ball) had almost walked (Hopkins), I knew she was going to attack me and I was swinging at that first pitch. And it happened,” Melvin recalled.
“I just knew in that last inning we were going to pull it out after those two walks. With Hop coming up, I knew she was going to get a hit and that I was going to do my job.“There was nothing that was going to stop us.
”West Chester’s Mairead Hopkins hits a two-run RBI double in the seventh inning to tie up the score in game one of Saturday’s doubleheader. Photo by Tom Silknitter.Junior starter Danielle Ciliberto went the distance, scattered nine hits, allowed one earned run and fanned six batters to get the win, and moves to 15-5 this season.
“That whole stretch of players in the ninth had very good at-bats,” Lokey pointed out. “They were more disciplined than they were earlier in the game. We got some walks and Hop had a very good, disciplined at-bat.
And then Hailey just attacked the first pitch.”The start of the nightcap didn’t go well, but that’s been an issue for the Rams this season. The Raiders (14-12, 25-17) had two hits and took advantage of two WCU errors put Shippensburg ahead 2-0 in the first.
“One thing we’ve been struggling with is not competing at the start of the second game,” Lokey complained. “And that’s what happened. We have to have the mindset of keep attacking.
”West Chester rebounded with three runs in the second inning, however, to take the lead. A fielder’s choice followed by a double from junior Gianna Liciardello started the rally, and freshman Julia Miller drove in two with a subsequent single. The next batter, sophomore Tess Kearney, then knocked Miller in with a double.
Rams’ starter Makenzie Edwards made it through five innings without surrendering an earned run, but she got in a jam in the sixth and was relieved by freshman Alyssa Tooley for one batter, and then it was back to Ciliberto. The Raiders wound up regaining the lead with two runs, and another costly error led to another unearned run.“We just have to better going into the second game,” Lokey said.
“We have to forget what happens in game one, and instead we came out and had two errors (in the first inning) and another (in the sixth).”West Chester threatened another comeback as Hopkins singled and later advanced to third on a wild pitch in the bottom of the seventh. But the equalizer was stranded – one of six WCU left on base in the contest.
“As a team, we say: ‘fight for that feeling,’ and we continue to do that every game,” Hopkins said.“It is 100 percent a mindset,” Melvin added when asked about comebacks. “We were all saying in both games to stay up, we got this, continue hacking away – stuff like that.
”Hopkins went 4-or-7 in the doubleheader.West Chester 3, Shippensburg 2 (Game One)Shippensburg 000 100 1 — 2West Chester 000 000 3 — 32B – S: Cimino. WC: Hopkins.
WP – Ciliberto.LP – Ball.Shippensburg 4, West Chester 3 (Game Two)Shippensburg 200 002 0 — 4West Chester 030 000 0 — 32B — S: Sabocski, Cimino.
WC: Liciardello, Kearney.WP — Hayward.LP – Edwards.
.
