Game 1
Game 2
KISSIMMEE, Fla. - Junior Chelsea Carson smacked two doubles and was 4-for-4 in the first of two games for Shippensburg on Thursday at the Fortune Road Complex as the Lady Raiders totaled 11 hits and outlasted Minnesota-Duluth, 6-2. In game two, Shippensburg dropped a 2-1 decision to Southern Indiana.
Against Minnesota-Duluth (1-2), the Lady Raiders sent 11 batters to the plate in the top of the second and scored all six of their runs in the frame.
The inning began with freshman Courtney Steele drawing a walk and advancing to second after senior Sarah Stengl reached via error on her sacrifice attempt.
With one out and two runners in scoring position, Carson delivered a frozen rope into the left centerfield gap that scored Steele and Stengl. After a wild pitch and a walk, junior Rachelle Wedell singled to the pitcher to plate Carson and senior Amanda Bardo singled to load the bases.
Junior Lori Knopf capitalized with the runners in scoring position, lacing a ball up the middle that scored Wedell and freshman Hope Cornell before sophomore Lisamarie Ramagli capped the inning with a double to left that scored Bardo to give the Lady Raiders a 6-0 lead.
Senior Dani Shields earned her fourth victory of the season by allowing just two runs through four innings while striking out three batters. Senior Jill Kirby pitched three innings of shutout relief and stuck out two batters to close off the Bulldogs.
Cornell drew three walks in her first game in the leadoff spot, scoring one run while Knopf was 2-for-4 with two RBIs in her first game of the season at shortstop. Bardo finished 2-for-4 with a run.
In the second game, Shippensburg (8-10) ran into another dynamite pitcher in Amy Harrison, a Division I transfer from Florida State who finished 2007 with 18 wins in her first year at Southern Indiana.
Johnson and Knopf dueled toe-to-toe for four innings and then a truly bizarre play in the top of the fifth inning prove to be the difference in the game.
With runners on first and second with one out, Kristin Eickholt sent a ball over Carson's head in center field that plated the first runner from second base. Somewhere in the collision between Carson and the temporary fencing in center, the ball became lodged underneath the fence, and the umpire called the play dead while the runners were rounding second and third.
After a lengthy debate between the coaches, umpires and crew chief, the play was ruled a ground-rule double and an advance to third for Eickholt on a fielding error that led to the ball being stuck in the fence.
Therefore, the second runner scored, and Southern Indiana took a 2-0 lead. Knopf quickly induced a foul-out and a ground out to end the inning.
Shippensburg was held to just two hits until the bottom of the seventh when Steele crushed a double off the left field fence to lead off the frame. A single from freshman Jill Mullan moved the pinch-runner, freshman Maggie Sander, to third base where she would later score on a sacrifice fly from Carson to pull the Lady Raiders to within one run, 2-1.
The rally fell just short when Mullan was stranded after a fly-out from Cornell ended the game, meaning the umpire's decision to score the second run in the top of the fifth, proved to be the difference in the outcome of the game.
Despite the crazy play, Knopf was excellent in the circle, striking out four and allowing just five hits over seven innings. Only one of her two runs was earned.
Harrison earned her fifth victory of the season for Southern Indiana by striking out seven in seven innings and allowing just four hits.
Carson and Knopf combined for seven hits and three RBIs on the day while Cornell finished with four walks.
Shippensburg will return home from Florida on Saturday before hitting the road once again next Thursday for Salem, Virginia where the Lady Raiders will play Mercyhurst at 5:00 p.m., in the West Virginia Wesleyan Tournament before taking on Bluefield State at 7:00 p.m.
