The Shippensburg University softball team began week of road competition Tuesday with a Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Eastern Division doubleheader sweep at Shepherd, defeating the Rams 7-6 in eight innings and 7-2 in Game 2 at Sara Cree Field.
Shippensburg (18-11, 12-6 PSAC East) totaled 16 hits on the day and only allowed four earned runs from the circle. Shepherd (23-15, 6-12) rallied from a pair of three-run deficits in Game 1 to send the opener into extra innings, where junior Morgan Lindsay (Hereford, Pa /Upper Perkiomen (Colgate)) delivered a two-out, go-ahead single in the eighth.
Junior Taylor Myers (Fayetteville, Pa./Chambersburg Area) reached base six times Tuesday, going 5-for-9 with a walk and two runs scored. Myers hit singles in each of her first four at-bats in Game 1.
Graduate Hannah Marsteller (Fredericksburg, Va./Riverbend) got on base in seven of her nine plate appearances – going 2-for-4 with four walks, a hit by pitch and two stolen bases. Her two hits went for extra bases, including her league-leading 11th home run of the season – a huge three-run shot in Game 2
Lindsay, sophomore Katelyn Minney (Lititz, Pa./Warwick) and sophomore Ally Weaver (Clear Spring, Md./Clear Spring) each had two hits. Junior Alyssa Nehlen (Pulaski, Pa./West Middlesex) reached base four times despite not recording a hit; she drew two walks and was hit twice by pitches.
Shippensburg remains on the road the rest of the week and will next be in action Friday afternoon at Bloomsburg.
Game 1: Shippensburg 7, Shepherd 6 (eight innings)
Shippensburg got on the board first in the top of the third after an RBI-single by Minney to left center. The Raiders had two runners on base after a single by Myers and a walk by Lindsay. Nehlen was hit by a pitch to load the bases with two outs. Freshman Kaira Zamadics (Allentown, Pa./Northampton Area) stepped up to bat and hit ball into left field to bring Minney and Lindsay home for a 3-0 lead.
Shepherd came right back in the bottom of the third with an RBI single to bring Nicole Purtell home, who walked. Then, a two-run single to left field tied the game, 3-3.
The Raiders continued their hitting momentum into the top of the fourth, as a single by Myers to center field and a walk by Marsteller placed two runners in scoring position. Lindsay hit an RBI single to left field to bring one runner home. Minney then doubled up the middle and brought two runs home but was out at third base; the runs were scored and the Raiders took a 6-3 lead.
In the bottom of the sixth, Shepherd scrapped together three runs after a fielder’s choice RBI and a two-run double by Caitlin Donnelly tied the game 6-6.
Both teams were unable to score in the seventh inning. In the top of the eight with two outs, Marsteller sent a deep ball to left field for a double to place herself in scoring position. Lindsay then hit another RBI single, sending the ball down the left side to bring Marsteller home and a 7-6 lead.
Redshirt-senior relief pitcher Maddie Uschock (Irwin, Pa./Hempfield Area (Dominican N.Y.)) entered in the bottom of the sixth and finished the game to get the win. In a clean bottom of the eighth, Uschock forced a pop up to second base and then foul outs third base and right field
Uschock retired all seven batters she faced and actually recorded eight outs, as her 2.2 hitless innings of relief began by inducing a double play to end the sixth inning. It was her second victory of the season.
Junior Maelynn Leber (Wrightsville, Pa./Eastern York) started in the circle for the Raiders and threw 2.1 innings and allowed one earned run and had one strikeout. Zamadics moved from designated player to pitcher in the third and came in and threw 3.0 innings and had three strikeouts.
Game 2: Shippensburg 7, Shepherd 2
A six-run second inning was the difference for the Raiders, and the entire rally began with two outs and a runner on first. Weaver hit an RBI-single to make it 1-0, and freshman Emilee Sullivan (Newville, Pa./Big Spring) was then hit by a pitch. Myers then reached on an error at first base, loading the bases.
Freshman Caitlin Martell (Morrisville, Pa./Pennsbury), the PSAC East Athlete of the Week, stepped up and delivered her lone hit of the day with a two-run double to make it 3-0. Marsteller then came through clutch once again with a soaring home run to left, making it 6-0 Raiders in the blink of an eye.
Shepherd scored twice in the third, but Lindsay made it 7-2 in the fourth on an RBI-groundout.
The closest the Rams would get to a comeback was in the bottom of the fifth, when a walk and a double put two runners in scoring position with one out. Emma Flattery (Macomb, Mich./Dakota) then came in out of the bullpen and struck the next two batters out to silence the threat.
Sophomore Alicia Ball (Woodstock, Va./Central) got the win, allowing two unearned runs on four hits in 4.1 innings. Ball walked two and struck out five – marking the third time in her last four starts that she has recorded at least five strikeouts.
Flattery got the final eight outs, allowing no runs and just one hit over 2.2 innings while striking out three.
