WEST CHESTER, Pa. - - The No. 22 Wilmington University softball team won the suspended game against West Chester, 9-1, but had its 19-game winning streak snapped in the nightcap, 2-1, on Tuesday afternoon at the South Campus Field.
The doubleheader was postponed from March 27, with the first game on Tuesday picking up in the bottom of the third with the Wildcats leading, 1-0.
GAME 1:
Brooke Koehler took over the game in the circle on Tuesday and didn't allow a hit in 4.2 innings of work, allowing the offense the time to strike. The Wildcats broke it open in the fifth on a pair of swings, scoring five runs in the blink of an eye to open a 6-0 lead.
With two outs and a runner on second in the fifth, back-to-back walks loaded the bases. Taylor Gillis then cleared them all with a double to left center, making it a 4-0 game. One pitch later, Sara Miller launched a two-run homer, and the Wildcats were leading 6-0.
Taylor Gillis added an RBI groundout in the top of the seventh and then Sara Miller stepped in and delivered another two-run homer to left center, giving her 21 for her career and the Wildcats a 9-0 lead.
West Chester loaded the bases with two outs in the seventh, but Kylee Gunkel came on to close the door on the 9-1 victory.
Taylor Gillis and Sara Miller led the team with four RBI each while Lexi Moore, Sara Miller, and Haley Downin all had two hits in the contest.
Lexi Moore became the fifth Wildcat in the program's NCAA era to record 200-career hits in the game, and just the second Wildcat ever to steal 100 bases in her career.
GAME 2:
Haley Downin pitched well for the Wildcats in her first start of the season, but a two-run homer in the fourth inning proved to be the difference as the offense fell silent for the first time in 20 games.
The Wildcats only had one hit through the first four innings as the pitchers battled it out. The defense turned an inning-ending double play in the second and then Downin set the Golden Rams down in order int eh third. A one-out, two-run homer put the Golden Rams on the board in the fourth to take the lead.
The Wildcats attempted a comeback in the fifth as Sam Freeland and Isabella Eleazar singled to put runner son the corners with one out. Bella Barnes cut the deficit in half with an RBI ground out, but that's all the Wildcats could get as they left two runners on.
Gabriella Saucedo singled in the sixth and Isabella Eleazar doubled in the seventh but were both left stranded as the Golden Rams snapped the Wildcats' 19-game winning streak.
UP NEXT:
The Wildcats have a chance to start a new winning streak and stay unbeaten in CACC play with their next doubleheader on Wednesday afternoon. They return home to face Georgian Court at Asbury Field with the first pitch of game one set for 2:30 p.m.