Late homers lead West Chester to comeback win in PSAC Tournament
Down to its last out, Gianna Liciardello tied the game with one swing, launching a two-run home run before Mairead Hopkins launched her program-record tying 29th career homer to lift the fifth-seeded West Chester softball team to a thrilling 6-4 comeback victory over fourth-seeded California (Pa.) in the first game of the PSAC Softball Tournament on Wednesday afternoon.
Originally scheduled for a 10 a.m. first pitch, the game was delayed and did not begin until 3 p.m. West Chester will play again later on Wednesday evening against PSAC East Regular Season Champion Kutztown.
West Chester (28-23 overall) trailed for much of the game and found itself down two with two outs in the seventh before Liciardello blasted her first home run of the season to tie the game and set the stage for Hopkins (West Chester Rustin) to be the hero, and add her name to a three-way tie atop the Golden Rams career home run chart.
"That was a huge home run for us as a team and me personally," acknowledged Hopkins. "It got us the lead, which was the most important thing for me at the time, and tying the record with that swing as well is great on top of that.
"We knew going into the seventh that we had to fight and Gianna (Liciardello) stepped up big and helped us keep fighting. I went up wanting to have a good at bat and everything worked out so we were able to push through with a win to start the Tournament."
After leaving runners on in each of the first three innings, including running on second and third with two outs in the second, West Chester found itself down 1-0 heading into the fourth after a third-inning sac fly by Makayla Jerin scored the first run of the game for the Vulcans.
West Chester did not trail for long as back-to-back singles by Liciardello and Holly Muni, along with a wild pitch, gave WCU runners on second and third once again with one out in the fourth. Hopkins tied the game with an RBI fielder's choice, which evened the score at 1-1 heading into the bottom of the fourth.
California led off the home fourth with a single and got runners on second and third after a one-out error before retaking the lead on a perfectly-placed bunt, which scored a run and kept the pressure on as the throw to the plate was ruled to not be in time to try and catch pinch runner Makenzie Gillen.
Another Golden Ram error allowed the Vulcans to score their third run of the game, taking a 3-1 lead with one out in the home half of the fourth. Danielle Ciliberto worked her way out of the inning with a strikeout and a foul pop to first to keep the deficit right where it was heading into the fifth.
West Chester wasted little time loading the bases with no outs in the fifth after a walk, a Tess Kearney single, and an error, but the Vulcans escaped the inning, thanks in large part to a double play to retain the lead.
The Vulcans carried a 3-1 advantage into the seventh, but this did not last long as Liciardello tied the game with one swing, launching a two-run home run to left before Hopkins delivered with a three-run blast to right.
After scoring all five runs with two outs in the seventh, West Chester got a quick first out before allowing a solo home run, which cut the lead to 6-4. Cal followed this up with a single before Ciliberto rolled a double-play ball to end the game with a 6-4 victory for the Golden Rams.
Ciliberto improved to 13-9 in the victory as she allowed four runs (two earned) on six hits, while walking two and striking out seven.
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This story was originally published May 6, 2026 at 9:19 PM.