SHIPPENSBURG, Pa. – Senior shortstop Taylor Weisman had a home run and five RBIs on Friday, while senior first baseman Maddie Justice clubbed a three-run home run and senior pitcher Liz Parkins allowed just two hits in 9.2 innings as the Shippensburg University softball team swept rival West Chester, 7-1 and 6-3, in a Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Eastern Division doubleheader at a chilly Robb Field.
 
Shippensburg (8-5, 3-3 PSAC East) scored 13 runs Friday against a West Chester (18-8, 4-2) team that had allowed just three runs in its last eight games (including four in conference play). SU also guaranteed itself at least a series split with the Golden Rams this season after losing 3-of-4 last year.
 
Weisman had two big clutch hits in Game 1 to propel SU's momentum. In a three-run first inning in the opener, Weisman served a two-run single through the left side. In her next at-bat, Weisman smacked a two-run single up the middle in another three-run inning. Her home run came in the sixth inning of the second game, as she sat on an off-speed pitch and demolished it far over the fence to left-center field.
 
Justice was 3-for-4 on Friday with her home run, two walks, a sacrifice, four RBIs and a stolen base. She also scored twice and was hit by a pitch. In her last four games, Justice has reached base in 11 of her last 14 plate appearances with one sacrifice.
 
Senior Tyler Thompson was a difference maker atop the order, contributing four singles and four stolen bases and scoring twice after entering Friday's doubleheader with just five hits on the season.
 
Parkins' contributions were integral from the circle; she finished the day with a win and a save. She threw a two-hitter for the Game 1 win, walking two and striking out four. She relieved junior Quincy Lewis in the fifth inning of Game 2 and retired all eight batters she faced, striking out three, for her fourth career save.
 
Friday marked Parkins' seventh career start against West Chester. In 41.1 career innings against the Golden Rams, Parkins is now 3-4 with a 2.88 ERA, a save and 29 strikeouts.
 
Lewis improved to 4-1 with the Game 2 victory. She pitched 4.1 innings, allowing three runs (one earned) with three walks and a strikeout.
 
The doubleheader featured several sterling defensive plays by the two teams. In the sixth inning of Game 2, freshman outfielder Eryn Caragein, an in-game replacement, went on a dead sprint toward the line in right field, slid, and completed a snow-cone catch to record an out. She then came to bat in the bottom of the sixth and singled up the middle for her second collegiate hit in nine at-bats.
 
Two great plays were made back-to-back in Game 1. Freshman left fielder Chloe Collins capped off the top of the third inning by racing into foul territory and reaching high behind her to make a catch as she crashed backwards into the fence. Justice was then robbed of a hit to start the bottom of the inning as WCU second baseman Charlotte Conaway went airborne, full extension to her right, for a diving catch.
 
Shippensburg will now travel on Sunday to face Millersville at 2:30 p.m. in a PSAC East doubleheader.