SHIPPENSBURG, Pa. - The Shippensburg University softball team swept rival West Chester in a crucial Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Eastern Division doubleheader on Saturday, with a score of 5-3 in the opener and 1-0 in Game 2 on a sunny Senior Day at Robb Field.
 
Shippensburg (27-15, 8-4 PSAC East) won Game 1 off a three-run home run by junior Hannah Marsteller in the sixth inning and won Game 2 off sophomore Taylor Myers walk-off single with two outs in the seventh.
 
Eight of the nine Raider starters had at least one hit in the doubleheader, including Marsteller's perfect day at bat. She was 7-for-7 in the doubleheader with a double and the three-run home run. She also stole two bases. Myers had three hits and the walk-off RBI.
 
Freshman Katelyn Minney, sophomore Morgan Lindsay and senior Hannah Johnson each had two hits; Lindsay and Minney had an RBI each.
 
Sophomore Emma Flattery was impeccable as a relief pitcher for the Raiders, winning both games of the doubleheader. She threw 5.1 shutout innings and has now won three straight decisions.  
 
Shippensburg will be back in action at 2 p.m. Tuesday for a crossover doubleheader at IUP.
 
Game 1: Shippensburg 5, West Chester 3
 
After stranding the bases loaded with nobody out in the top of the first innings, Shippensburg took an early lead in the bottom of the first inning. Senior Morgan DeFeo reached based on a fielder's choice and Marsteller hit an infield single to put two runners on base with one out. Lindsay delivered an RBI-single up the middle to take a 1-0 lead.
 
West Chester (20-20, 5-7) scored a pair of RBI-singles to take a short-lived 2-1 lead in the third inning. The Raiders tied the game in the bottom half with an RBI-single by Minney to score Marsteller, who reached base on an infield single.
 
The Golden Rams took the lead again in the sixth with a solo home run by Trisha Kopinetz, but the Raiders answered back in the bottom half with a three-run home run by Marsteller with two outs against the reigning PSAC Eastern Division Pitcher of the Week, Mackenzie Edwards.
 
Freshman Alicia Ball started in the circle for the Raiders and threw 5.0 innings and struck out four Golden Rams. Relief pitcher Flattery threw 2.0 innings, allowed one hit and recorded one strikeout, which ended Game 1.
 
Game 2: Shippensburg 1, West Chester 0
 
Game 2 was a pitcher's duel; both teams managed only four hits through the first five innings. Redshirt-sophomore Maddie Uschock started in the circle for the Raiders and got out of a pickle in the first inning with the bases loaded of Golden Rams. Flattery entered as a relief pitcher in the fourth inning to help the Raiders escape another bases-loaded jam.
 
In the bottom of the seventh and the game still 0-0, the Raiders were looking for a run. With one out, sophomore Alyssa Nehlen and Johnson hit a pair of singles to put two Raiders on base. Pinch hitter, junior Taylor Radziewicz, drew a walk to load the bases. Hunter hit into a fielder's choice for the second out for the Golden Rams. With two outs and a full count, Myers hit a single to left center for a walk-off RBI single and the victory for the Raiders.
 
Uschock threw 3.2 innings and allowed three hits and struck out three. Flattery threw 3.1 innings, allowed three hits, and again ended the seventh on a strikeout.
 
Before the game, the Raiders celebrated their four seniors: DeFeo, Hunter, Johnson and Tressa Kagarise.
 
This is the first time since March 27, 2015, that the Raiders swept West Chester in a doubleheader.