Two Golden Rams, junior Sarah Walasavage and sophomore Brooke Harner, were awarded with PSAC Athlete of the Week honors.
Before last week’s play, Harner improved to 13 wins after her shutout performance against Kutztown on April 2. With a 1.42 ERA, Harner has struck out more than 80 batters this season and only allowed 20 runners to cross the plate.
The Golden Rams have had all three of their starting pitchers receive this award after Harner’s recognition last week.
Walasavage, who is leading the team in batter average with a .390, has a whopping 46 hits on the season. She also leads the team in runs scored (39) and stolen bases (21). She also has four home runs this season, and not to mention her perfect 1.000 fielding percentage.
The Rams, originally scheduled to play four contests this week, were only able to play two due to inclement weather.
The Lady Rams faced the Wilmington Wildcats last Tuesday. Sophomore Amanda Houck started in the circle in game one.
In their first game against the Wildcats, the Rams struck first in the second inning after the Wilmington pitcher walked a batter with bases loaded. With bases still loaded, freshman Alyssa Herion scored on a passed ball. The Wildcats stopped the hurt by only allowing two runs.
In the top of the third, the Wildcats got a leadoff hit, only to be caught stealing after a rocket throw to second base by sophomore, Heidi McCollester. The Wildcats went on to load the bases. A sac fly to left field scored one for the Wildcats this inning.
After loading the bases in the top of the fourth, Harner came on to relieve Houck. The Wildcats tied the game after a walk.
It wasn’t until the bottom of the fifth when the Rams regained the lead when McCollister singled down the right field line.
Harner recorded the win after holding the game at 3-2, this improved her record to 14-0.
In the second game against the Wildcats, senior Kat Erb was on the mound.
The Rams again struck first.
With the bases loaded and no outs, senior Laura Altenburger, sac flied to left field, scoring sophomore Madison Kelly.
Cat Hammer came up big with a three run homer over the left field fence.
In the second inning for the Rams, Walasavage led off with a single up the middle.
Sophomore Sara Ercolani acted as a decoy to bait the throw to second allowing enough time for Walasavage to score from third.
Altenburger then doubled to left center and scored on a hit by freshman, Alyssa Herion.
After shutting the Wildcats down in the field, Herion led the bottom of the fifth inning off with a double. Kelly then doubled to center scoring Herion. Ercolani remained hot at the plate and single through the left side scoring the eighth and final run for the Rams.
Walasavage went 5-7 for the day with a walk and scoring two runs for the Rams. Altenburger, Kelly, and Herion, all added three hits. Combined, they crossed the plate five times and had three RBI’s.
Erb improved her record to 7-0, striking out two while allowing only four hits.
After their Thursday contest against Philadelphia University was rescheduled, the Rams were back on the field Friday against PSAC competitor, Shippensburg.
The Rams were off to a quick start in the first inning scoring four off of four hits.
The Raiders remained scoreless until the third inning when they scored one, after three hits.
The Raiders took the lead in the bottom of the fourth. With bases loaded, the Raiders hit a line drive into left field scoring two. Another run crossed the plate due to a wild pitch.
After the Rams made a pitching change, Harner stopped the damage at five.
The Golden Rams did not bounce back from this deficit until the sixth inning. Sophomore Cat Hammer lead off the inning with a double. Junior Micaela McSpadden, would follow her up with a single. Herion tripled to right field scoring the two runners on base. McCollister would get a pinch hit single scoring Herion. Seven more hits would give the Rams a secure lead.
The sixth inning rally would be too large for the Raiders to come back and they finished the game with a final of 15-5.
Erb was in the circle the second game against the Raiders.
In the first, the Rams scored on a sac fly form Ercolani. Walasavage scored on a wild pitch, and Hammer blasted her eighth home run of the season.
The Lady Rams did not stop there.
In the second inning, Herion lead off with a home run to left field, followed by a two run homer from Ercolani, her fourth of the season.
Herion remained hot at the plate in the third inning. She rocketed a two-run homer to left field, the second of the game and her ninth of the season.
In the top of the fifth, sophomore Lexi Trumbetti, junior Shannon Gray and freshman Erica Molovich, each added pinch hits for the Rams. Sophomore Ashley Flesch also hit a three run bomb to left field, which was her first career home run.
The Rams did not settle there. They went on to score another 10 runs before the bottom of the fifth.
Shippensburg would stop the hurt at 19.
With a total of 31 hits, the Rams outscored Ship 34-5 in their victories.
The 19-0 win over the Raiders gave the Rams a 35-3 record on the season.
After facing all four conference teams once, the Golden Rams remain undefeated in the PSAC East at 8-0.
The Lady Rams are away all week as they face PSAC contenders, East Stroudsburg, on Friday, April 15 and Millersville on Saturday, April 16. They also face Bowie State University on Sunday, April 17. All games will be played at 1 p.m. and 3 p.m.
Monica Twardowski is a second-year student. Contact them at MT814571@wcupa.edu