SALISBURY, N.C. - Junior Lori Knopf earned her first career save by inducing a pop-up with the bases loaded and two outs in the top of the seventh inning to help the Shippensburg University softball team earn a 6-3 victory over the Indianapolis on Saturday afternoon in the Catawba College Invitational at Salisbury Community Park.

In their first game, the Lady Raiders (2-2) were three outs away from upsetting No. 23-ranked Georgia College & State, but the Bobcats rallied for six runs in their final at-bat to earn a 7-3 victory.

In game two, senior Dani Shields earned her second victory in as many starts this season while moving into fourth place in the school's career innings pitched list. In three-plus seasons, Shields has thrown 451 innings, passing Candace Snyder '89, who threw 446.1 innings from 1986-89.

With six strikeouts in 4.2 innings pitched Saturday, Shields also moved into second place for career strikeouts with 533, passing Andrea Smith '99. Smith totaled 531 strikeouts from 1997-99.

Shippensburg took control of game two by scoring three runs in the bottom of the fourth as Knopf, senior Sarah Stengl and senior Liz Good all laced RBI singles to give the Lady Raiders a 4-1 lead.

The Greyhounds (2-10) trimmed the lead to one after a solo home run in the fifth against Shields and an unearned run in the sixth off senior Jill Kirby .

However, Shippensburg added two important insurance runs in the bottom of the sixth to replenish its three-run cushion.

After opening the seventh inning with a ground out, Indianapolis had its next two runners reach base against Kirby before Knopf moved from first base in relief of Kirby.

Knopf retired the first batter she faced on a fly ball to right, but she walked the next batter to load the bases. Greyhound outfielder Maggie Swanson then popped up to freshman Hope Cornell to end the game and give Shippensburg its second victory.

In addition to the save, Knopf finished the second game 3-for-3 with an RBI while Good was 2-for-3 with a double and two RBIs. Stengl went 1-for-3 with two runs and two RBIs.

In game one, Shippensburg led for the entire game until a disastrous final inning.

The Lady Raiders plated three runs in the first thanks to RBI singles from Cornell and Knopf and an RBI walk from Stengl. Leading 3-0, the Lady Raiders had the bases loaded and just one out, but Bobcat replacement pitcher Mandy Chandler struck out consecutive Lady Raiders to end the threat.

Chandler relinquished only one hit through the final six innings to earn the win.

Knopf had allowed just one run on four hits through six innings when she struck out the first batter of the seventh. However, the batter would reach base on a passed ball, setting the stage for the Bobcats' comeback.

After four singles and a walk, Georgia College & State took a 5-3 lead before adding two unearned runs to take a 7-3 advantage heading into the bottom of the seventh.

On the day, Stengl finished with three RBIs while Knopf had four hits and two RBIs.

Shippensburg will play its final game in the Catawba Invitational on Sunday at 1:00 p.m., against Belmont Abbey.

- Lady Raider Softball -