NEW WILMINGTON, Pa. – The Westminster College softball team swept a doubleheader against Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) foe Chatham University on Tuesday. The Titans won the first game, 4-3, in 9 innings, and won game two, 7-3.
"…We have to win out to have any hopes for playoffs," said head coach
Jan Reddinger. "We are taking it actually not just one game at a time, but one inning at a time, trying to win each inning. We are not looking ahead at all. We will look at the very next game, after we take care of that, then we move on from there."
In game one, Westminster (12-16, 5-7 PAC) got on the board first when sophomore
Haley Bedalota (Aliquippa, PA / Hopewell) scored on a wild pitch in the dirt to give Westminster their first lead of the game, 1-0. Chatham (9-17, 3-7 PAC) quickly responded with two runs in the top of the third inning to take the lead. The Titans reclaimed the lead in the bottom of the fourth inning, when sophomore Alexis Brinza (McKees Rocks, PA / Our Lady of the Sacred Heart) rocketed a knee-high fastball into the gap in left-center field to score sophomore Bailey Griffith (McDonald, PA / Fort Cherry), knotting the game up at two. The game went into extra innings, and Chatham struck first with a run in the top half of the eighth inning to take a 3-2 lead. The Titans responded when first-year
Madison Brown (Lisbon, OH / East Liverpool) delivered with an RBI-single to extend the game. Westminster went into the bottom half of the ninth inning tied with the Cougars, 3-3. Brinza got the rally started with a leadoff-single, sophomore
Breanna Tetirick (New Concord, OH / John Glenn) executed a sacrifice bunt to advance Brinza to second, and sophomore
Leigha Knox (Aliquippa, PA / Central Valley) flew out to right field to advance Brinza to third; all setting the stage for Bedalota with two outs and a runner on third. The Cougars intentionally walked Bedalota, bringing first-year
Jasmine Woodings (Verona, PA / Penn Hills) to the plate with the game on the line. Wooding's delivered, sending a line drive over the centerfielder's head to bring home Brinza for the walk-off. Brown, the reigning PAC Pitcher of The Week, started on the mound for the Titans, picking up the victory. She tossed all nine innings, scattering eight hits, and giving up two earned runs to go along with two strikeouts.
In game two, the Titans tallied four runs in the first inning to jumpstart their offense, capped off by an RBI-single by senior
Cheyenne Shifflett (Etters, PA / Trinity). Brown delivered an RBI-single of her own in the second inning, extending the Titans' lead to 5-0. Chatham collected two runs in the third and fourth innings to cut the Titans' lead to 5-2. The Titans registered two more runs in the bottom of the fifth inning to take a 7-2 lead. Chatham scored one more run in the sixth inning. First-year
Krystyna Burdelski (Pittsburgh, PA / Fox Chapel) notched the victory for Westminster, tossing all seven innings, giving up 13 hits, two earned runs, and tallying two strikeouts.
Prior to game one, the Titans recognized their two seniors,
Makena Baumgardner (Summerhill, PA / Forest Hills), and Shifflett.
Westminster improved to 12-16 overall and 5-7 in the PAC, while Chatham dropped to 9-17 overall and 3-7 in league play.
The Titans will be back in action on Thursday, April 18 when they take on Bethany College at home in a PAC doubleheader. First pitch is scheduled for 3:30.
*Written by Mike Boucher
(Quotes provided by Titan Radio)
