Lily Gfeller vs. Shippensburg
Bryce Dolak
2
Gannon GAN-S 18-27
6
Winner Shippensburg SHIP-S 28-18
Gannon GAN-S
18-27
2
Final
6
Shippensburg SHIP-S
28-18
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 R H E
Gannon GAN-S 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 2 5 0
Shippensburg SHIP-S 0 0 0 1 0 5 X 6 9 0

W: Emma Flattery (10-2) L: Lenda, Maggie (10-11)

9
Winner Gannon GANNON-S 19-27
7
West Chester WCU-S 36-17
Winner
Gannon GANNON-S
19-27
9
Final
7
West Chester WCU-S
36-17
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 R H E
Gannon GANNON-S 3 0 2 3 0 1 0 9 11 0
West Chester WCU-S 1 0 0 0 2 2 2 7 13 2

W: Vasi, Gabi (7-8) L: M. Edwards (9-7) S: Lenda, Maggie (1)

Game Recap: Softball | | Bob Shreve, Assistant Director of Athletics Media Relations

Gannon Shocks Eastern Division Top Seed West Chester to Move on in PSAC Tournament

Vasi pitches, hits Golden Knights to elimination game victory

QUAKERTOWN, Pa. – The Gannon softball team staved off elimination and sent Eastern Division number one seed West Chester home early on Wednesday night, holding on for a 9-7 win over the Golden Rams at Veterans Park. Gannon opened the 2023 PSAC Softball Tournament with a 6-2 loss to Shippensburg before jumping out to a big lead and shocking West Chester.

The Golden Knights came in as the fifth seed out of the Western Division and are appearing in the PSAC Tournament for the 12th straight year. If not for one bad inning against Shippensburg, the fourth seed out of the East, they could have finished with a pair of wins. The Raiders entered the bottom of the sixth trailing 2-1 but scored five times to rally for the win.

Gannon, now 19-27, jumped out to an 8-1 lead against West Chester as Gabi Vasi (Tonawanda, N.Y./Kenmore East) pitched and hit the Golden Knights to the victory. After an up-and-down season, the junior pitched into the seventh inning and drove in four runs with a double and a homer. Ashley Fox (Cowansville, Pa./Karns City) and Jules Ryan (Collegeville, Pa./Spring Ford) also hit home runs. Gannon scored six times with two outs.

Gannon returns to action on Thursday in another elimination game, with crosstown-rival Mercyhurst the opponent. They meet at 12:30 p.m. with the winner moving on to play at 3:00 p.m. while the loser heads home.

FIRST ROUND – No. 4E Shippensburg 6, No. 5W Gannon 2
On a cold and drizzly day, Shippensburg (28-18) entered the bottom of the sixth inning trailing 2-1 but the Raiders broke through with five runs against Maggie Lenda (East Aurora, N.Y./Iroquois). The inning began innocently enough with Hannah Marsteller walking but being thrown out at second on an attempted steal. Morgan Lindsay tied the game at 2-2 with a home run to left field. The next four Raiders reached base to give Shippensburg a 4-2 lead. After a second out Taylor Myers doubled to left center to drive in a pair of runs and complete the decisive uprising. Gannon took a 1-0 lead with two outs in the top of the second when Lily Gfeller (Livonia, N.Y./Livonia) blasted a long home run down the left field line. It was the senior's third home run of the season. Shippensburg knotted the score at 1-1 with a run in the bottom of the fourth inning. With one out Marsteller, the PSAC East Athlete of the Year, doubled to right field and Lindsay followed with an RBI single to center. Alyssa Nehlen's single put runners on first and second but Lenda retired the next two batters to strand the runners. Gannon regained the lead in the top of the fifth while chasing Shippensburg starter Kaira Zamadics. Hannah Neal (Woodhaven, Mich./Woodhaven) doubled to right center with one out. With two outs Jules Ryan (Collegeville, Pa./Spring Ford) drove in pinch runner Kaitlin Romanowski (Lancaster, N.Y./Lancaster Central) with a single to center. Josie Spano (Hudson, Ohio/Western Reserve Academy) followed with a walk but the Golden Knights would leave runners on first and second. Ryan followed with a great defensive play to end the bottom of the fifth with the tying run on second base. She made a sliding stop to her right and from one knee just threw out Caitlyn Martell at first base. Shippensburg ended with nine hits compared to five for the Golden Knights. Lenda (10-2) was brilliant for five innings before the Raiders came alive with four hits in the sixth. The sophomore walked two and struck out three. Gfeller was 2-for-3 at the plate while Spano reached base three times with a double and two walks.

ELIMINATION ROUND – No. 5W Gannon 9, No. 1E West Chester 7
Gannon got off to a fast start against Eastern Division top seed West Chester (36-17), scoring three runs in the top of the first, all with two outs. Josie Spano (Hudson, Ohio/Western Reserve Academy) reached on an error and first team All-PSAC West performer Abbey Girman (Bridgeville, Pa./South Fayette) slapped double down the left field line. Gabi Vasi (Tonawanda, N.Y./Kenmore East) followed with a double to left center to drive in Spano and Girman. Lynn Porter (Hanover, Mass./Ardrey Kell) followed with a third straight hit, a single to left, to plate Vasi. West Chester answered with back-to-back hits and a wild pitch cut the lead to 3-1 with still no one out. Vasi settled down to leave runners stranded on first and third thanks to a strikeout, foul out and fly out. Gannon extended the lead to 5-1 with a pair of runs in the top of the third, again the runs scoring with two outs.

 
Girman singled and Vasi helped her own cause again with a two-run homer to center, her first of the season. Gannon strung together four hits and took advantage of another longball to score three times in the top of the fourth and go on top 8-1.

 
Freshman Ashley Fox (Cowansville, Pa./Karns City) led off the frame with a home run to left, her third of the season, and Lili Gfeller followed with a double to chase WCU starter Samantha Klug. Hannah Neal (Woodhaven, Mich./Woodhaven) greeted Daniele Ciliberto with a single, and after a fielder's choice, Jules Ryan (Collegeville, Pa./Spring Ford) drove in two runs with a triple down the right field line. WCU got a lead-off double to start the fifth, but Vasi almost got out of the inning with a strikeout and popout. Olivia Mock hit a two-run homer as the Golden Rams closed to 8-3. Vasi got out of the inning with another popout.

 
Ryan got one of the runs back in the top of the sixth with yet another two-out run. She yanked a low outside pitch down the left field line for her sixth home run of the season and a 9-3 lead. WCU didn't go down without a fight. The lead was reduced to 9-5 thanks to a pair of WCU hits and a walk in the bottom of the sixth, but Vasi got out of the inning with a pair of fly balls. The seventh began with a Meg Wolfe home run, and head coach Michelle Wiley called on Maggie Lenda (East Aurora, N.Y./Iroquois) to close out the game. The Golden Rams scored one more run but Lenda closed out the game for her first save. Vasi improved to 7-8 with the win in the circle and drove in four runs while going 2-for-4 (double and home run) to lead an 11-hit attack. Ryan had a triple and home run in four at bats, driving in three runs. Girman was 2-for-3.


 
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