KUTZTOWN, Pa. – The Shippensburg University softball team made an impressive statement to the rest of the league on a chilly Friday afternoon at Kutztown, taking sole possession of first place in the PSAC Eastern Division with a doubleheader sweep of the No. 19-ranked Golden Bears by scores of 3-1 and 5-2.

Senior Moira Johnsen had three hits in the opener, including a two-run homer in the 10th inning that scored senior Dana Ward – who had been placed on second due to the international tiebreaker.

Senior Hope Cornell opened the scoring with a home run in the eighth inning and was one of five Raiders with multiple hits against Golden Bear starter Monica Glomb. Cornell's home run was her ninth of the season – establishing a new career high for SU's all-time leader in round trippers.

It was junior Chelsea Kendall who was the difference for Shippensburg in the opener. Facing a squad with a 23-4 record that had out-scored its opponents 131-44 this season, Kendall was dominant from the first pitch and allowed just two hits through her first six innings of work.

Kendall threw all 10 innings – a career-high – while walking just two hitters and scattering seven hits with eight strikeouts.

Her only blemish came with two outs in the eighth inning – a two-out double and a passed ball led to an RBI-single that tied the score at 1-1. Johnsen then worked her magic in the 10th while Kendall never allowed Kutztown's base runner in the bottom half to move past second base – capping the game with a strikeout.

Kutztown (23-6) scored two runs – one unearned – in the fifth inning of the nightcap against freshman Emily Estep but SU rallied for three runs in the sixth inning and added two insurance runs in the seventh.

Senior Jill Mullan, who also had two hits in the opening game, singled to left-center field to start the sixth. After a sacrifice bunt put her on third, Johnsen singled her home to put SU on the board. The decisive at-bat, however, came with two outs, when senior Courtney Steele ripped her fourth home run of the season to give SU a 3-2 lead.

In the seventh, freshman pinch runner Abby Payne scored on an error by the second baseman and sophomore Kiersten Darhower touched home plate on a sacrifice fly by Johnsen.

Estep was simply awesome in the circle, closing out the game by striking out the side in the seventh inning. She allowed just four hits and struck out nine batters to improve her record to 8-2.

Johnsen finished the doubleheader with four hits and four RBIs. Cornell, Mullan and freshman Marygrace Serra had three hits over the course of the two games – Serra has seven hits in her last six games with three RBIs.

On Saturday, Shippensburg will host PSAC rival Millersville at 1 p.m. from Robb Field.