SHIPPENSBURG, Pa. – The Shippensburg University softball team scored seven runs in the bottom of the sixth inning in Game 1 Friday and used that momentum to sweep a Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) East doubleheader against East Stroudsburg from a sunny Robb Field. The Raiders won Game 1, 8-2, and took the second game, 6-4.
 
Trailing 2-1 in the bottom of the sixth inning in Game 1, the Raiders (21-16, 4-4 PSAC East) exploded for seven runs – six of the tallies came with two outs – to rally and win comfortably. SU took a 5-0 lead in Game 2 and was able to hold off a late ESU charge to win by a pair of runs. SU has won five consecutive games heading into Saturday's doubleheader at Kutztown, which will begin at 1 p.m.
 
Sophomores Taryn Wilson and Nicole Smith combined to allow just three earned runs in 14 innings of work as Wilson threw a complete game in Game 1 while Smith threw the entirety of Game 2.
 
Freshman Meghan Klee led the Raider charge offensively as she was 5-for-8 in the doubleheader with two doubles and a team-high five RBI. Junior Chloe Collins, freshman Micaela Ghanayem, freshman Kendall Geis each had three hits for the Raiders. SU hit .367 as a team on the day (22-for-60).
 
Game 1
 
The Raiders started quickly in Game 1 as junior Tara Bicko doubled to right field to begin the bottom of the first inning, advanced to third base on an error and scored when Ghanayem singled to center field.
 
However, the Raider offense went quiet for the next four innings as ESU was able to scratch across an unearned run in the fourth inning to tie the game before taking the lead in the fifth on a Mary Wallick RBI single.
 
SU finally broke out in the sixth as pinch-hitter freshman Kayla Bonawitz started the rally with a one-out walk. Junior Maddie Mulhall then singled and junior Macy Luck followed with a double to left that scored Bonawitz and tied the game.
 
Following a strikeout, Bicko singled home a pair of runs to break the tie, and from there the floodgates opened. Geis hit an RBI double, Collins singled, Klee drove in two runs with a double and Ghanayem picked up her second RBI of the day with a single before ESU could retire the side.
 
Wilson finished off her complete game effort, scattering seven hits, walking just one and striking out nine Warrior batters in a 117-pitch effort.
 
Game 2
 
Klee continued her fine afternoon with an RBI double in the first inning of Game 2, and then was driven in on a Ghanayem RBI single. The Raiders kept the scoring coming in the second inning as Collins doubled in Bicko to make it 3-0. Klee then made it five RBI on the day as she singled in both Collins and Geis with a single up the middle to put SU up 5-0.
 
Collins added an insurance run in the sixth inning with a sacrifice fly to right field that scored pinch runner Maddie McConnell. Collins and Klee combined for five of SU's six RBIs in Game 2.
 
Smith was outstanding to begin the nightcap as she retired the first 14 batters before ESU rallied with two outs in the fifth inning to score a single run. The Warriors added another run in the sixth inning to make it 6-2.
 
Stress levels rose a bit in the seventh when ESU scored a pair of unearned runs before Smith retired Wallick with a groundout to end the ball game. Smith finished with five strikeouts as she threw 118 pitches in the complete-game effort.