Game 1
Game 2
SALEM, Va. - With temperatures barely above 50 degrees and the wind whipping about at roughly 20 miles per hour, the Shippensburg University softball team took the field Thursday evening at the Moyer Sports Complex and engaged in their first extra-inning game of the season against the Lakers of Mercyhurst College.
Unfortunately, the extra inning proved a bit more advantageous for Mercyhurst, as the second home run of the game from senior Jessica McNurlen led off the top of the eighth inning and guided the Lakers to a 4-3 victory over the Lady Raiders in eight innings.
Shippensburg (9-11) quickly responded in game two by scoring early and often en route to an 11-1 victory in five innings under the lights. The Lady Raiders had only hit six home runs in 18 games on the season entering play Thursday but finished the day with two home runs and 22 hits in the two games.
In the opener, Shippensburg combined for three home runs with Mercyhurst, as the two teams also battled the wind that was causing routine fly balls and brisk line drives to become an adventure.
After two quick outs in the top of the first inning, the Lakers scored the first run of the game when McNurlen launched her first wind-aided rocket over the two-foot tall fence in left-center field for a solo home run.
Clean-up hitter Megan Houston followed with a walk, and Michelle Schmitz followed with a high fly ball to center that was lost in the sun and wind by Chelsea Carson and fell in, scoring Houston from first to give Mercyhurst a 2-0 lead after one half-inning.
The Lady Raiders nearly answered with a run in the bottom of the frame, but freshman Hope Cornell was stranded on third base after leading off the inning with a ground-rule double.
Shippensburg answered with a run in the bottom of the third inning when senior Liz Good slapped a single up the middle to score freshman Maggie Sander, who pinch-ran for sophomore Lisamarie Ramagli after she drew a walk to lead off the inning. The Lady Raiders had two runners in scoring position with just one out in the inning, but a strikeout, walk and foul out to the catcher kept the score at 2-1.
Cornell was on fire in the opener and crushed a solo home run over the center-field fence on the first pitch in the bottom of the fifth inning to tie the score at 2-2. Meanwhile, junior Lori Knopf braved the elements and wore short sleeves in the circle and pitched extremely well after some first-inning jitters.
The junior hurler ran into a big jam in the top of the seventh, as the Lakers loaded the bases with one out. Knopf responded by striking out the next two batters to end the inning. She finished with eight strikeouts in eight innings while allowing just two earned runs.
The international tiebreaker lived up to its name in the eighth inning as the Lady Raiders could only muster one run on the bottom of the frame. After Knopf laced a ball into the right-center field gap that scored sophomore Oceanna DeBaro, Knopf was thrown out at second trying to advance. A two-out single from senior Sarah Stengl was not enough to sway the final outcome in favor of Shippensburg.
Knopf continued her strong day at the plate in game two with a two-out, two-run home run to center field that opened the scoring and gave Shippensburg a 2-0 lead. She would also figure prominently in the third and fourth-inning scoring barrages and finished the two-game set 5-for-6 with a home run and five RBIs.
In the third, the Lady Raiders plated four runs after loading the bases with no outs. Stengl brought home the first run of the inning with a sacrifice fly to right field, and Knopf followed by sneaking a single between the shortstop and third baseman to plate another run. Cornell smacked another double to plate junior Rachelle Wedell, and freshman Moira Johnsen singled home Knopf.
Five more runs came in the fourth inning, as the hitting display was highlighted a 2-run single from Stengl and RBI-hits from Cornell and Knopf. Freshman Dana Ward earned a hit in her first collegiate at-bat by singling to the catcher.
Senior Dani Shields went the distance against the Lady Blues and allowed just two hits while striking out six to earn her fifth victory of the season.
Shippensburg will take on Glenville State tomorrow at 1:00 p.m. and finish off the day with a 7:00 p.m. matchup with West Liberty State.
