Game 1
Game 2

SHIPPENSBURG, Pa. - Freshman Hope Cornell clubbed a crucial three-run home run, junior Chelsea Carson smacked two doubles and senior Dani Shields earned her ninth victory of the season as the Shippensburg softball team opened PSAC Eastern Division play with a doubleheader sweep of Millersville by scores of 2-1 and 4-2.

Shippensburg (19-11, 2-0 PSAC East) extended its longest winning streak in two seasons to 11 games and the Lady Raiders have now allowed just one earned run through 41 innings this week en route to posting a 0.17 earned-run average over that span.

The tightly contested opening game of Saturday's doubleheader ended in Shippensburg's favor after two first-inning runs held up for the duration of the game and were just enough for Shields, who scattered three hits while striking out eight.

In the bottom of the first, senior Liz Good singled to center field, stole second and was eventually brought home on an RBI-single from Cornell. One pitch later, junior Lori Knopf laced a gapper into right-center field that sliced away from the fielders and plated Cornell to give Shippensburg the lead.

Millersville (12-13, 0-4 PSAC East) scratched across one run in the top of the fourth but could not plate the tying run. Casey Coker singled in a run and advanced to second on the throw to leave two runners in scoring position with one out, but Shields responded by striking out catcher Trisha Johnson and inducing a weak come-backer from Jill Golomboski to end the threat.

Game 2 required a second trip through the batting order before Shippensburg could crack the scoreboard against Marauder starter Janelle Mrakovich. Cornell led off the fourth by lacing a line drive into left-center off the shortstop's glove and advanced to second on a passed ball and was brought home by Knopf on an RBI-single to give Shippensburg a 1-0 lead.

In the bottom of the fifth, Carson led off with her second double in two at-bats on the day by lacing a ball into the left-center field gap to begin the three-run Lady Raider inning. Carson advanced to third base on a wild pitch, and Good followed by beating out a single to third base and quickly stealing second.

Senior Sarah Stengl popped up to first base for the first out, but Cornell worked the count full and then crushed a line-drive that rose over the right-center field fence for her fifth round-tripper of the season to give Shippensburg a 4-0 lead.

Millersville countered in the top of the sixth inning by plating two runs. A walk, an infield hit and a fielding error led to runners on first and third with one out, and Mrakovich plated the first run with a single through the left side. Another error led to the second Marauder run but Knopf quickly ended the threat by striking out Sarah Ernesto.

Cornell finished the doubleheader with three hits, four RBIs and three runs. Through six games this week, Cornell has hit .474 with two home runs and 10 RBIs.

Good finished the day with three hits, three stolen bases and two runs. She has hit .381 this week and recorded at least one hit in five of her last six games.

Over the course of the 11-game winning streak, Shippensburg has hit .330 and clubbed 11 home runs and totaled 67 RBIs while allowing just 16 earned runs and posting a 1.51 earned-run average over that span.

Shippensburg will finish the weekend with a home doubleheader against East Stroudsburg tomorrow at Robb Field that will begin at 1 p.m.