KUTZTOWN, Pa. – West Chester (32-14) used a nine-hit attack en route to a 9-7 win over Shepherd University (26-13) in NCAA II Softball Atlantic Region Championship action at Kutztown on Thursday. 

West Chester took a 2-0 lead in the first inning. Bri Garber reached base on a hit-by-pitch and later scored on a sacrifice fly by Courtney Stump. Jaime Klemas singled and later scored on an infield single by Haleigh Karcher.  

The Golden Rams added a run in the fourth when Annamarie Hartman reached on an error and moved to second on a passed ball. She advanced to third on a passed ball and scored on a wild pitch. 

West Chester added five runs in the sixth with a three-run homer by Karcher keying the rally. 

Shepherd answered back in the bottom of the sixth with four runs to cut the lead to 8-4. Sophomore outfielder Kylie Condon (Charles Town, W.Va./Washington) smacked a two-run double and an RBI-double from senior outfielder Allison Baker (Fredericksburg, Va./Stafford). 

West Chester added a run in the seventh on an RBI-single by Klemas. 

Shepherd got a three-run homer from sophomore designated player Cameron Davis (Ayden, N.C./South Central/UNC Pembroke) in the seventh to complete the scoring. Davis' three runs batted in give her 49 on the season to set a Shepherd single-season mark. She breaks the old mark of 48 shared by Kelli Summers (1991) and Connor Gilligan (2017). 

Davis and Forte each had a pair of hits to pace the Rams. 

Madison Melvin went 3-for-4 for the Golden Rams. 

 Jen Hanshaw (6.1 IP, 8 H, 7 R, 4 ER, 0 K, 2 BB) (17-4) gained the win for the Golden Rams. Picozzi (0.2 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0K, 0 BB) earned the save. Sophomore pitcher Katie Laing (Jefferson, Md./Brunswick) (0.2 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 0 K, 0 BB) (10-4) took the loss. 

The Rams will play Kutztown in the elimination game today at 4 p.m.