Box Scores:
VILLE 6, SHIP 3
SHIP 7, VILLE 6

SHIPPENSBURG, Pa. – For the second time in the 2010 season, the offenses of the Shippensburg and Millersville University softball teams came to life in a PSAC Eastern Division doubleheader. On a sunny, rainy and windy Friday afternoon from Robb Field, the squads combined for 22 runs and 51 hits in splitting the twinbill. SU won the nightcap 7-6 after dropping the opener, 6-3.

Shippensburg (14-26, 3-11 PSAC East) had four players with multiple hits in the second game, including a three-hit, three-RBI performance from senior Lisamarie Ramagli. Junior Hope Cornell finished the afternoon with four hits and two RBIs while reaching base in six of her seven plate appearances in the doubleheader.

Sophomore Chelsea Kendall threw 81 of her 117 pitches for strikes in the second game of the doubleheader but saved her most important pitch for the final out – a popup to second base. It capped off a 2-hour, 28-minute marathon that featured just one 1-2-3 half-inning and featured virtually all forms of weather, including strong gusts of wind and a 36-minute rain delay.

The Lady Raiders fell behind 1-0 in the first inning but tied the score in the bottom of the frame with a solo home run by Ramagli. In the second inning, Millersville re-gained a 2-1 lead with an RBI-single before SU scored three unearned runs in the bottom of the frame.

A clutch two-out single in the second inning by Ramagli plated freshman Lizzy Wedell and sophomore Emily Parkins, who reached at the start of the inning after the first baseman dropped the throw from third base for an error. Ramagli got to second on a wild pitch, went to third on an illegal pitch and eventually scored on an RBI-single by junior Courtney Steele.

Millersvillle (22-23, 4-10 PSAC East) loaded the bases in the third inning with one out, but Kendall recorded a swinging strikeout and a groundout to escape the Marauder threat. The Marauders did get one run on the board in the fourth inning when a leadoff double came around to score on an error during a stolen base attempt.

The bottom of the fifth inning was the crucial frame for Shippensburg. Leading 4-3, the Lady Raiders plated three runs to build what proved to be an important four-run advantage. The inning started innocently enough with a rocket shot down the left-field line by junior Moira Johnsen for a single. She was erased in the next at-bat on a fielder's choice, but SU got some momentum when freshman Jenn Deardorff hit into another fielder's choice but Parkins was safe at second when the pitcher's throw sailed into center field.

The speed of junior Dana Ward led to the first run of the inning as she beat out an infield single with two outs that moved Parkins to third base. The hurried throw to first against Ward soared wide of the bag and allowed Parkins to score and Deardorff to advance to third base. Ramagli then reached on another error by the third baseman to plate Deardorff and an RBI-single from Cornell plated Ward.

Millersville had a frenzied rally in the top of the sixth as the skies grew increasingly ominous due to an oncoming storm. The Marauders put up six hits in the inning and scored three runs to get within 7-6, but Kendall stranded two runners on base with a swinging strikeout to end the inning. The ball entering the glove of sophomore catcher Meg Lehman was the signal for the skies to promptly unleash a downpour, as the two teams then endured a 37-minute delay due to rain and lightning.

After a quick bottom of the sixth inning, Kendall came back out and yielded just a two-out single in the seventh before recording the final out. She struck out five batters and allowed just three earned runs for her seventh complete game of the season. Friday's effort marked the fourth straight start for Kendall in which she has gone the distance.

In the opener, Shippensburg took a 1-0 lead in the first inning on an RBI-single by Cornell and led by that margin through three innings. Millersville took a 3-1 lead in the fourth inning with a two-out rally against Ward that included a two-run home run.

A frozen rope off the bat of sophomore Rochelle Troise in the fourth inning resulted in an RBI-double that brought SU within one run, but the Marauders scored three more runs in the sixth to take control of the game. Junior Jill Mullan manufactured a run in the team's final at-bat by reaching on an infield single, stealing a base and scoring on a throwing error.

Ward went the distance in the first game, yielding five earned runs while striking out three batters. It was the 17th complete game of the season for Ward. Neither Ward nor Kendall allowed a walk in either game.

Both Shippensburg and Millersville were eliminated from the race for the playoffs by virtue of Friday's split and East Stroudsburg picking up a 2-1 victory over Kutztown. The Warriors will be the No. 3 seed from the Eastern Division.

The Lady Raiders will conclude their regular season at 1 p.m. Saturday with a divisional doubleheader against East Stroudsburg.