Box Score

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Softball Falls to West Virginia Wesleyan in Opening Round of NCAA Playoffs

SHIPPENSBURG, Pa. - No. 2 seed West Virginia Wesleyan scored eight runs on 11 hits to defeat No. 7 seed Mansfield 8-0 in five innings in the opening round of the NCAA Atlantic Regional 2 Tournament on Friday afternoon at Robb Field.

The Mountaineers will play IUP in the elimination bracket on Saturday at 12:30 p.m. IUP lost to Shippensburg 2-0 on Friday. The winner of the IUP - Mansfield game will play the loser of Shippensburg and West Virginia Wesleyan. The winner of that game will play again at 3 p.m. on Saturday.

After a 1-2-3 Mansfield top of the first, Wesleyan's Alex Furr led of the bottom of the inning with a single before moving to third on a stolen base and sacrifice bunt. Megan Malestyn laced a two-out single to right field to score the Bobcats' first run before Olivia Gore doubled to plate Malestyn. Back-to-back fielding errors for the Mounties allowed Wesleyan to add two more runs and lead 4-0 after the first inning.

Furr hit another lead-off single in the bottom of the second and scored in the next at bat when Carleigh Hall singled and Mansfield committed another scoring error. Starting pitcher Jacqui Omichinski drove a two-run homer over the centerfield fence to give Wesleyan a 7-0 lead.

Mansfield got a runner aboard in the top of the 3^rd inning when Kaitlyn Hewitt reached on an error by the second baseman, but was left stranded. In the top of the fourth, Amanda Goodwin stroked a two-out single to right field for the Mounties' first hit of the game.

Rebekah Honce drove in the eighth run of the game for Wesleyan in the bottom of the fourth with a sacrifice fly to right field to plate Jessica Griffin.

Hewitt and Ashley Inman recorded back-to-back doubles in the top of the fifth, but Mansfield failed to push a run across.

Omichinski went the distance in the circle for the Bobcats, allowing just three hits while striking out five batters.

Kate Pratt took the loss after allowing five earned runs in 1.1 innings. Inman pitched a quality 2.2 innings in relief, allowing just three hits and no earned runs while strking out two.