The Shippensburg University softball team came up short in a pair of high-scoring games against rival West Chester on Friday, falling by scores of 17-8 (five innings) and 14-13 (eight innings) in a Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Eastern Division doubleheader at the WCU Softball Field.
 
Friday was not a good day to be a pitcher working in Chester County. Playing in the midst of a wind advisory in which gusts often surpassed 50 mph and temperatures plummeted as the day progressed, Shippensburg (22-16, 16-14 PSAC East) and West Chester (22-12, 18-12) combined for 52 runs, 58 hits, 16 walks and 88 total bases.
 
Game 1 did not start well for Shippensburg. The hosts scored nine runs in the bottom of the first inning and four more in the second to take a sizable lead. SU rallied for seven runs in the top of the fifth inning to get within six of the Golden Rams, but a three-run homer in the bottom of the inning ended the game via the run rule.
 
Game 2 was all over the map and featured multiple lead changes. SU built a 4-0 lead through two-and-a-half innings, but the Golden Rams responded with three runs in the third, five in the fourth, and two in the sixth.
 
The Raiders entered their final at-bat trailing 10-7 but erupted for six runs in the top of the seventh to take a 13-10 lead. SU seemed poised for a split, as WCU was down to its final out in the bottom of the seventh and had no runners on base. However, the Golden Rams countered with a double, single, double and triple to even the score at 13-13. Then, in the bottom of the eighth, the hosts walked it off with an unearned run.
 
SU did pile up hits on Friday, totaling 26 on the day including six doubles and two homers. All nine Raider starters had multiple hits, including four each for Courtney Coy and Hannah Marsteller. Both women each scored five runs on the day as well. Coy hit two home runs, had five RBIs, and walked twice. Marsteller doubled twice and had two RBIs.
 
Marsteller broke the SU single-season school record for RBIs on Friday, reaching 59 through 38 games. It surpasses the school record of 58 set by Raider Hall of Famer Jaime-Lyn Dacey in 2005.
 
Taylor Radziewicz and Toni Jones each totaled three hits and three RBIs. Radziewicz also walked twice, reaching base five times in the doubleheader. Alyssa Nehlen finished with a double and four RBIs.
 
The two teams will conclude the regular season at 1 p.m. Saturday at Robb Field. Shippensburg will need to win at least one game in Saturday's doubleheader to secure a playoff spot. WCU secured a playoff berth with Friday's sweep.