No. 6 Rambelles Take First Game of CWS Behind Marlett's Gem

SALEM, VA-- The no.6 Angelo State Rambelle softball team moved one game closer to a National Championship with their 1-0 win over West Chester University of Pennsylvania on Thursday.

"Well, this was a heck of a pitcher's duel," Rambelle head coach Travis Scott said in his postgame press conference. "Everybody saw why those two pitchers are All-Americans. Both of them threw the heck out of [the ball]."

Rambelle senior pitcher Brandy Marlett threw a complete game, one-hit gem with seven strikeouts for the Rambelles to improve her record to 25-3 in 2018. The All-American right-hander also allowed no walks to West Chester.

"She had great command today, didn't walk anybody and had seven strikeouts," Scott said of Marlett. "We needed it because [West Chester's] kid threw a heck of a game, too. She kept spinning [the ball], moving it in and out."

Amanda Houck, West Chester's starting pitcher, also threw a complete game where she struck out five and allowed the lone run on six hits.

Senior right fielder Brooke Mangold drove in the only run of the game with an RBI single in the bottom of the fifth inning to score Danae Bina from second base.

"I told myself to not make that at-bat bigger than what it is with a runner in scoring position," Mangold said. "I told myself 'See the ball, hit the ball'. That's what I tell myself to try and relax."

The Rambelles had a chance in the bottom of the sixth inning to tack on some insurance runs with two on and two out, but Bina struck out looking to end the inning and leave the runners stranded.

Karina Rocha and Taylor Fogle were the lone Rambelles with multi-hit games. Rocha went 2-for-3 while Fogle went 2-for-2.

In the postgame press conference, Mangold and Marlett said the team's experience from a year ago helped to calm the first game nerves in Salem this year.

"It's kind of a big thing when you have 13 girls coming back from last year that came [to the World Series]," Marlett said.

Next up the Rambelles (53-7) will face 8-seeded Southern Indiana (37-23) on Friday at 10 a.m. Southern Indiana beat 1-seed North Georgia 1-0 in the first game of the 2018 DII Softball World Series.