SHIPPENSBURG, Pa. – The Shippensburg University softball team rallied from an 11-2, five-inning loss in Game 1 of its Thursday doubleheader against No. 23 Kutztown with a 10-8 win in Game 2 to salvage a split with the Golden Bears in Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Eastern Division action at sunny Robb Field.
Shippensburg (13-13, 11-11 PSAC East) and Kutztown (19-5, 16-4) combined for 42 hits and 31 runs on Thursday.
Hannah Marsteller went 4-for-4 with two home runs and five RBIs in Game 2 to tie the single-season home record (12, set by Taylor Weisman in in 2014 and Nicole Henninger in 2007).
Freshman
Taylor Myers was 5-for-6 with a hit-by-pitch, two stolen bases and three runs scored. In her last 10 games, Myers is batting .571 (20-for-35) and has scored 13 runs.
Game 1: Kutztown 11, Shippensburg 2 (5 innings)
Both teams scored a run in the first inning. Hannah Auvil homered down the left-field line on the fourth pitch of the game during the top half of the inning, and
Taylor Radziewicz singled off the left-field wall in the bottom half. Hannah Reimel homered in the second for the visitors, and the score was 2-1 through four innings.
The situation escalated quickly in the fifth, as Kutztown scored nine runs on just four hits. The key hit in the inning was a three-run homer by Brianna Hughes. Four of the nine Golden Bear runs in the inning were unearned. A sacrifice fly by Marsteller in the bottom of the fifth plated one more run for the Raiders.
Freshman
Emma Flattery got the start for SU; she threw four innings and faced the first five batters of the fifth.
Tressa Kagarise got the final three outs.
Bridget Bailey improved to 10-0 for Kutztown, allowing two runs on six hits with no walks and one strikeout.
Game 2: Shippensburg 10, Kutztown 8
Once again, both teams scored in the first inning, but this time it was multiple runs for each team. A rocket off the bat of Jenna Lipowski resulted in two runs for the Golden Bears, but the Raiders immediately answered. Singles by Myers and DeFeo and a four-pitch walk to
Alyssa Nehlen prefaced a grand slam by Marsteller that made it 4-2.
Both teams added a run in the second;
Lacey Hunter tripled with one out in the bottom half of the inning and scored on a sacrifice fly by
Morgan DeFeo.
A four-run third inning made it 9-3 Raiders. Singles by Marsteller and
Maelynn Leber put runners on the corners with one out, and a fielder's choice by freshman
Cori Ritter plated a run. With the bases loaded and two outs, Myers beat out an infield single for a second run, and DeFeo then doubled up the middle to add two more runs.
KU immediately answered with five runs in the top of the fourth as a result of six consecutive singles and a sacrifice fly. In the fifth, KU chased Leber from the circle with a leadoff double, but
Hanna Phillips entered out of the bullpen and worked the Raiders out of the jam.
Phillips put up zeroes in each of the final three innings to record her first collegiate save. She was the only pitcher on either team to not allow a run in Thursday's doubleheader. She scattered two hits and two walks in her three innings of work.
Leber earned the win, pitching four innings and striking out one. She did not walk a batter.
Marsteller sent a ball into orbit over the center-field fence in the bottom of the sixth off Bailey, who had entered in relief. It proved to be a valuable insurance run. Myers, DeFeo and Marsteller combined to go 9-for-10 at the plate in Game 2 with nine RBIs.
Up Next
Shippensburg travels to Kutztown on Friday for a 1 p.m. doubleheader at North Campus Field.
