Box Scores
L 5-1 / L 7-4 (8 inn.)

WEST CHESTER – Missy Schwartz hit a walk-off three-run homer in the eighth inning to lift West Chester to a 7-4 win and complete the sweep of a PSAC East softball doubleheader against East Stroudsburg University on Wednesday afternoon.

West Chester (28-10, 11-3) clinched one of the top two spots in the PSAC East going into the first round of the conference tournament next weekend. Brooke Muth threw a complete game in a 5-1 victory in the opener for the Golden Rams, then came on for five innings of scoreless relief as WCU rallied to win the nightcap.

ESU (17-24, 5-7) hosts Kutztown (33-12, 11-3) on Friday and travels to Shippensburg (13-25, 2-10) on Saturday looking to secure its fourth straight trip to the PSAC playoffs. Millersville (21-22, 3-9) is currently two games behind ESU and plays Shippensburg and West Chester in its final two conference doubleheaders.

The first game was a pitchers' duel between Muth and ESU senior Jackie Battaglino, as the two hurlers matched zeroes through the first four innings before West Chester broke through for four runs, all with two outs, in the bottom of the fifth. Sam Ingersoll's two-run homer was the final blow in the frame.

WCU added an unearned run in the sixth to take a 5-0 lead. ESU scored in the seventh as sophomore SS Pam Sellers hit a leadoff double and scored on a sacrifice fly by senior RF Kara Darcey.

Battaglino threw her 18th complete game of the season and was coming off a pair of complete games in a split against Mercyhurst on Saturday, when the Warriors lost the first game 1-0 and came back for a 1-0 shutout in game two.

The second half of Wednesday's doubleheader featured several lead changes, and neither team could capitalize on a leadoff baserunner in the seventh to send the game to extra innings tied at 4-4.

Ingersoll and Megan Harbaugh both walked to start the home half of the eighth, and Schwartz hit her second home run of the season to left to give the Golden Rams the victory.

Schwartz gave WCU a 1-0 lead with an RBI single in the first inning, while ESU came back with two in the second. Junior 2B Jamie Fisher scored on a double steal and Sellers singled to drive in sophomore 1B Brittany Zanzalari.

ESU went ahead 4-2 in the fourth after West Chester tied the score at 2-2 on a homer by Harbaugh in the bottom of the third. Zanzalari singled and Darcey walked to start the inning, moved up on a sacrifice bunt by junior C Samantha Capriotti, and scored when an RBI single by Sellers was misplayed by Evelyn Anderson in center.

WCU plated single runs in the fourth and sixth to knot the score at 4-4. Erin MacNamee tripled and scored on a double by Anderson to make it 4-3, and Harbaugh had an RBI single in the sixth as the Golden Rams threatened to take the lead but were unable to score the go-ahead run from second with nobody out.

Schwartz started in the circle for West Chester and threw the first three innings, allowing all four ESU runs (three earned), before moving to third base. Muth gave up three hits in 5.0 innings in her relief appearance and yielded seven hits in the first game.

Junior Caitlin Monahan went the distance for ESU, stranding 13 runners on base in the first seven innings, before Schwartz hit the game-ending home run. Monahan and Sellers both had a pair of hits in the second game.

Junior CF Alicea Ashe had three of the Warriors' seven hits in the opener, including a double for her 16th extra-base hit of the season, and was 1-for-4 in the second game. She is currently tied for the top spot in school history with nine home runs this year.

Friday's doubleheader against Kutztown begins at 2:30 p.m. as the Warriors look to stay in front of Millersville for the third and final playoff spot in the PSAC East.