The West Chester Lady Rams softball team (24-23) came into this week desperately needing some wins in order to keep from finishing last in PSAC East division. Not helping their cause, their conference record is a disappointing 5-9, and they are also tied for last in their division.
West Chester went to Millersville this past Tuesday attempting to keep their playoff hopes alive. As their day concluded, the Golden Rams left satisfied, sweeping the Marauders in their doubleheader with two convincing wins.
In their opening game, designated hitter Abby Block led the team with 3 RBI, one coming from a solo homerun. Also pacing the Lady Rams, Megan Kelly and pinch-hitter Brianna Rowlands contributed with 2 RBIs of their own as they handled Millersville, 13-1.
Starting pitcher Devon Utterback (12-11) had a solid performance, tossing a complete game, allowing one unearned run in the process.
In the second part of their doubleheader, West Chester jumped out to an early 3-1 lead behind right-fielder Kelly Anderson’s solo homerun in the first inning. Adding to that in the third, Jessica Norris would smash a RBI double with catcher Nicole Cruts singling her home two batters later to add to their lead.
Millersville wouldn’t quit though and would tack on runs in both the fourth and fifth inning, pulling even with West Chester. The Lady Rams separated themselves for good as the first three hitters reached on an error in the seventh with Kelly Anderson ripping a two run single to put away Millersville, 7-3.
Trying to continue their recent success, the Lady Rams welcomed in Kutztown (38-1) on Friday, who came to West Chester bolstering an undefeated record in PSAC play. In their first contest, West Chester had trouble producing runs until the sixth inning, where Charlotte Conaway broke up the no-hit bid. After blasting a solo homerun, Anderson also connected for a deep double, but would be left stranded.
A key error by the Rams in the top of seventh proved costly, and led by Kutztown’s catcher, Katie Lynch, the Golden Bears took game one of the double-header, 6-1.
In the second game, pitcher Devon Utterback was credited with giving up two earned runs out of the seven scored in a complete game performance. Freshman, Erin Whitman, singled home the only run of the game for West Chester in the fifth inning, and the Lady Rams dropped the back end of the double header, 6-1.
Katie Lynch for Kutztown contributed another two homeruns and Tori Marcavage scattered three hits over 4.2 innings for another dominating performance by the Golden Bears.
No. 5 Kutztown seemed to have the Lady Rams’ number in both games as West Chester dropped back into the cellar of the PSAC East standings.
To wrap up their packed schedule, the ladies hosted the Shippensburg Raiders this past Saturday in which they were able to salvage a split. The day game was highlighted by a complete game three hitter by Devon Utterback. West Chester did its damage in the fourth with a string of hits including one by Abby Block, concluding her final home game of her career. West Chester’s final run came off a smart base-running play as Shippensburg pitcher, Mackenzie Lynn, uncorked a wild pitch. The Raiders tried to make a comeback pushing across one run in the seventh but Utterback closed the door, leading West Chester to a 4-1 victory.
In the final game of the weekend, West Chester found itself in pitchers dual as starting pitcher, Kate Skokowski, threw 4.2 innings, allowing three runs with only two earned.
After Shippensburg jumped out to an early 2-0 lead, pinch-hitter Erin Whitman smacked an RBI single to center, scoring Ali Vavala.
The Raiders would answer though and add another run in the top of the next inning to push the lead back to two. Continuing from her earlier outing that day, Utterback would relieve Skokowski, giving up only one hit for the rest of the game.
However, the Lady Rams couldn’t match what Shippensburg was doing on offense and eventually would fall to the Raiders, 3-1.
The Lady Rams will travel to University of the Sciences (14-16) Monday for a doubleheader with the Devils. Still in the playoff hunt, these last four games, including PSAC foe East Stroudsburg, will decide the fate of this year’s Lady Rams softball team.
Taylor Maren can be reached at TM741168@wcupa.edu.