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By Neil Geoghegan
ngeoghegan@21st-centurymedia.com
@NeilMGeoghegan on Twitter
WEST GOSHEN >> Everybody in purple and gold had the feeling that it was the biggest hit of the college softball season for West Chester.
But Paige Marabell’s grand slam in the fourth inning of Saturday’s key PSAC twinbill against visiting Bloomsburg needed to end up a win, and a doubleheader sweep, to rise to that lofty level. And it eventually happened, but not before the Huskies battled back to later tie it, and set up the game-winning walk-off double by Alexa Peterson in the bottom of the seventh inning.
The Golden Rams’ 8-7 win in the nightcap – combined with a 1-0 opening game victory – upped WCU’s record to 7-3 in the league and 18-9 overall. It was the result that longtime head coach Diane Lokey was looking for.
“It was a huge sweep,” she said. “We kept talking about not being satisfied with winning one game in a two-game series. And this group actually did that.”
“It’s good that we just kept pushing.”
It was just the second conference doubleheader sweep of the season in five tries for West Chester so far. It also provided an historical milestone as the 699th and 700th career victories for Lokey, who is in her 21st season at WCU following two as the head coach at Elizabethtown starting in 2002.
“It just means I’m old,” Lokey laughed.
“But we have had a bunch of really good athletes and some strong coaches. So the 700 is not just me. There have been so many people who go into that.”
The Rams trailed 4-0 in game two heading into the bottom of the fourth inning, which started quite innocently. Two hit batters, an infield hit and a walk got West Chester on the board and loaded the bases. That’s when Marabell – a freshman from Tunkhannock – belted the pivotal one-out grand slam.
It put WCU ahead for the first time. And for Marabell it was her third homer in two days.
“I was actually a struggling a little before that at bat and I was just trying to put the ball in play,” Marabell said. “You have to get over any bad thoughts and know that there is something good coming.”
Lokey added: “She looked much more locked-in during that than her first at bat (a strikeout).
“That’s the second time (this season) we’ve had a grand slam to go ahead, but this time we held on to win. The last time we did not against Millersville. It was a huge hit, especially for a freshman.”
In the next inning, the Rams added two more insurance runs to make it 7-4. Graduate infielder Grace Aguilar opened with a double and later scored on a passed ball. And then Meg Wolfe drove in fellow sophomore Mairead Hopkins, who had earlier singled.
The two runs wound up being important as Bloomsburg (6-4, 17-10) pulled to within 7-6 on a sixth inning two-run homer by Taylor Kranzley, and then tied it in the bottom of the seventh on a run-scoring double from Kayleigh Lenner. The senior was down to her last strike at the time of her big RBI.
“Our team has so much fight, we knew we were going to come back,” Marabell said. “We certainly weren’t going down without a fight.”
It eventually set the stage for Peterson, a fifth year senior out of Bishop Shanahan. With two out, Aguilar drew a walk and Kate Rittenbaugh followed with a single.
That’s when Lokey decided to pinch hit for freshman Tess Kearney.
“Over the course of the past two seasons, a big part of my role is to come in as a pinch hitter,” said Peterson who is an Exton native.
“It was mainly more experience,” Lokey added. “Tess (Kearney) is a defensive specialist and she hits well. Coach Lama (Laura Altenburger) and I discussed it for a while, but Alexa has 20 more at-bats, so we decided to go with Alexa because she has more experience.”
Peterson promptly drove it over the arms of the centerfielder to drive in Wolfe for the winning run.
“That at bat was just trying to keep my cool, trying to do what I could for my team and stay confident,” Peterson said.
Junior outfielder Hailey Melvin and Wolfe each had two hits for West Chester. And pitcher Danielle Ciliberto registered the win in relief.
Game one was an old fashioned pitcher’s duel that was scoreless through seven innings. Starter Makenzie Edwards and Ciliberto combined to limit the Huskies to no runs and four hits. Ciliberto also ended up with the win in relief.
“I would call that an ‘old-school game.’”Lokey said.
In the bottom of the eighth inning, WCU’s Madison Melvin led off with a single, advanced to third on a double by Aguilar, and scored the game’s only run on an RBI hit by Hopkins (West Chester Rustin).
“Bloomsburg’s been playing really well, so to win these two is huge for us,” Marabell said.
“This sweep is huge, especially when it comes down to the playoffs,” added Peterson.
Madison Melvin paced West Chester in the opener with three hits.
Game One: West Chester 1, Bloomsburg 0
Bloomsburg 000 000 00 — 0
West Chester 000 000 01 – 1
WP – Ciliberto. LP – Sowers.
Game Two: West Chester 8, Bloomsburg 8 (8 innings)
Bloomsburg 031 002 1 — 7
West Chester 000 520 1 – 8
2B – B: Lenner, Yamrick. WC: Aguilar. Peterson. HR – B: Kranzley, Little. WC: Marabell.
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