The Shippensburg University softball team engaged in an action-packed Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Eastern Division doubleheader with Bloomsburg on Tuesday, splitting the twinbill and ultimately the season series with the Huskies. The Raiders won a madcap Game 1, 15-14, while the Huskies won Game 2, 8-0 in five innings.
Shippensburg (5-9, 4-8 PSAC East) and Bloomsburg (4-10, 2-10) combined for 37 runs, 52 hits and 13 walks in the doubleheader. The Raiders had nine extra-base hits – seven doubles and two more home runs from
Hannah Marsteller. She now has six homers on the season.
All nine Raider starters had at least one hit in the doubleheader, including four for Marsteller,
Taylor Radziewicz and
Taylor Myers.
Lacey Hunter,
Maelynn Leber and
Cori Ritter each had three hits – Hunter scored three runs; Leber had two doubles and two RBIs, and Ritter had a double and an RBI among the first hits of her collegiate career.
Game 1: Shippensburg 15, Bloomsburg 14
A two-run home run in the top of the first inning by Marsteller was just the tip of the iceberg in a game that featured 35 hits, 21 runners left on base, and at least one runner on base in every half-inning.
Shippensburg took a 4-1 lead into the bottom of the second inning after a two-run double by
Morgan DeFeo, but Bloomsburg had the first nine batters reach base in a seven-run inning.
SU needed the services of
Courtney Coy to escape the second inning, as she moved over from third base in an 8-4 game and inherited two runners on with no one out. Coy, SU's third pitcher of the game, stranded the runners by recording three straight outs, escaping a jam and setting up the Raiders for a comeback.
The rally was immediate, as Shippensburg countered with eight runs in the top of the third inning to take a 12-8 lead. Coy and Leber hit RBI-doubles, and four Bloomsburg errors resulted in two more runs. With the bases loaded and two outs, Marsteller launched a grand slam over the center-field fence to cap the eight-run frame.
SU took a 14-8 lead in the fifth on an RBI-double by Ritter and an RBI-single by Leber. The Huskies snuck two runs across in the bottom of the fifth, but the Raiders plated a run on a wild pitch and held a 15-10 lead entering the bottom of the seventh.
Coy moved from pitcher to play third base for the seventh inning, but would eventually find her way back in the circle at the end of the game. Bloomsburg started the seventh against an SU relief pitcher with a single, a walk, a groundout, a two-run single, a wild pitch, and back-to-back walks, making it 15-12. Coy re-entered the circle facing a bases-loaded, one-out situation. She induced an RBI fielder's choice to get the second out. An RBI-single then made it 15-14, but a groundout ended the game.
Coy's final pitching line was 5.2 innings pitched, six hits, two earned runs, two walks and two strikeouts. She earned the win, as pitchers in softball cannot be credited with both a win and a save.
Game 2: Bloomsburg 8, Shippensburg 0 (5 innings)
Two Bloomsburg singles that never got out of the infield to start the bottom of the first were a sign of things to come, as the Huskies scored three in the first and hit a solo home run in the second to take a 4-0 lead. A four-run fourth gave Bloomsburg an 8-0 lead that ultimately led to the run rule.
Shippensburg left 10 runners on base, as the Raiders had two hits in each of the first three innings and a single and two walks in the fourth inning. SU got two hits from Radziewicz and a double from Leber but were not able to scratch a run across the plate, as Bloomsburg pitcher Abby Wild finished with seven strikeouts.
Up Next
Shippensburg is back in action this weekend with a home-and-home series against Lock Haven. The Raiders are at Lock Haven on Friday for a 2:30 p.m. doubleheader and will host the Bald Eagles on Saturday.
