Game 1 Box Score

Game 2 Box Score

SHIPPENSBURG, Pa. - Senior Lori Knopf allowed just two earned runs in 14 innings on Thursday afternoon from Robb Field to help the Shippensburg University softball team earn a pair of crucial PSAC Eastern Division victories over West Chester by scores of 1-0 and 3-2.

Shippensburg (17-13, 5-3 PSAC East) assumed sole possession of second place in the Eastern Division with the victories over the Golden Rams, a squad who entered the week as the No. 5 team in the Atlantic Region. In four games at home this season, the Lady Raiders have allowed just three runs.

The opening game was a pitcher's duel between Knopf and Golden Ram workhorse Shannon Padula, as the squads combined for just six hits through the first six innings. In the bottom of the seventh inning, senior Chelsea Carson walked with one out, and freshman Abby Block crushed a ball into the gap that brought home the winning run.

The play was eerily similar to the hit-and-run that Block converted for the winning run at Millersville on March 27 in a 1-0 victory. In that game, sophomore Dana Ward singled in the ninth inning with one out and was brought home by Block on a double.

West Chester (21-11, 3-5 PSAC East) took a 2-0 lead in Game 2 with a two-out single in the top of the third inning from Meghan Halberstadt. The Golden Rams put together a two-out rally with three consecutive hits (single-double-single) to get on the scoreboard.

The Lady Raiders immediately rallied in the bottom of the third with two runs off Padula, who entered in the second inning. Sophomore Hope Cornell began the one-out rally with a single and sophomore Courtney Steele followed with a base knock up the middle before being replaced on the basepaths by freshman Rochelle Troise.

On the first pitch of her at-bat, junior Lisamarie Ramagli doubled into the left-center field gap to drive home Cornell and get the Lady Raiders on the scoreboard. One batter later, Ward hit a swinging bunt that planted just in front of home plate and beat out a throw from the catcher for a hit that allowed Troise to score and tie the game at 2-2.

In the bottom of the fourth inning, Steele came up with the decisive two-out hit on a single to right field that plated sophomore Jill Mullan and gave Shippensburg a lead it would hold to the finish.

Knopf's only trouble during the final three innings came in the fifth. With runners on first and second and no one out, Knopf had an outstanding sequence against Stephanie Ingersoll, West Chester's leading run producer who entered the game with 44 RBIs. The senior hurler got ahead with an 0-2 count and continued the agression with a devastating riser that fooled Ingersoll badly for the strikeout.

Following the strikeout, Knopf got a groundout and a popout to end the inning before retiring six of the final seven batters. Over the course of the day, Knopf struck out nine batters and walked just two in 14 innings. Of the 11 hits recorded by the Golden Rams, only one went for extra bases.

Ward finished the day with three hits for Shippensburg and an RBI, while Steele went 2-for-3 in the nightcap. Ramagli had a hit in each game and seven of the nine Lady Raider starters compiled a hit between the two games.

Thursday's doubleheader was the fourth attempt between the two teams to play the doubleheader, as the previous three scheduled meetings were postponed due to rain. The two teams are scheduled to play at West Chester on Friday, but more rain is in the forecast. The scheduled start time is 2:30 p.m.