SHIPPENSBURG, Pa. – The Shippensburg University softball team got 11 hits from its senior class on Friday as it split a pair of one-run games with Kutztown in a Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Eastern Division doubleheader on a sunny but windy Senior Day at Robb Field. SU won the opener, 3-2, but dropped Game 2, 7-6.
 
Shippensburg (15-18, 10-16 PSAC East) enters its final regular-season doubleheader on Saturday clinging to PSAC Tournament hopes. SU will need to sweep Mansfield, and have two other scenarios occur: Bloomsburg to sweep East Stroudsburg, and Lock Haven and Millersville to split their doubleheader.
 
If those events occur, SU would earn the tiebreaker over ESU by virtue of a better record against whomever ends up as the top seed (either Bloomsburg or West Chester).  
 
Senior Taylor Weisman opened the scoring in Game 1 with a solo home run in the second inning and added another in the third inning of Game 2. Weisman reached base five times on the day, totaling three hits and two walks.
 
Senior Jessie Trammell earned starts at first base in both games, finishing the day 4-for-7 with a double and an RBI. Senior Maddie Justice had three singles and a run, while senior Tyler Thompson had a hit, a walk and a run.
 
Seniors also started in the circle in both games of the doubleheader. Liz Parkins had a complete-game win in Game 1, scattering two runs on four hits with five strikeouts. Makenzie Lynn threw 3.1 innings in Game 2, allowing four runs and striking out two. Junior Quincy Lewis relieved Lynn by pitching 3.2 innings.
 
Sophomore Jenny Peel had two hits, including a double. Junior Taylor Llewellyn had two hits, while junior Briana Giovenco had a double.
 
Between games, a special ceremony was held recognizing the contributions of the six-member senior class. The group has contributed to 101 victories in four years, including three PSAC Tournament appearances and two NCAA Atlantic Regional Tournament qualifications.
 
The Raiders and Kutztown (30-14, 16-10) were tied 2-2 in the sixth inning of the opener, but a two-out wild pitch allowed freshman pinch runner Taylor Dorman to score what proved to be the game-winning run.
 
In Game 2, SU countered a three-run start by Kutztown with a four-run outburst of its own to lead, 4-3, after one inning. Junior Taylor Pattillo smacked a three-run homer in the bottom of the first – her second round-tripper of the season. She leads the team this season with a .347 batting average.
 
The teams exchanged runs in the third inning, but the visitors scratched out two more runs in the fourth inning to take a one-run lead and would not relinquish their advantage the rest of the way.
 
The start time of Saturday's doubleheader at Mansfield is 1 p.m. from Lutes Field.