The Shippensburg University softball team dropped a pair of games on Friday, falling to Adelphi, 8-1, and to Coker 9-6, in extra innings at Saleeby-Stokes Field in Hartsville, South Carolina.
 
Shippensburg (2-4) managed just three hits against regional foe No. 11 Adelphi (6-3), with freshman Caitlin Martell, junior Morgan Lindsay and junior Maelynn Leber each getting a hit.
 
Against Coker (12-4), the Raiders totaled nine hits; junior Taylor Myers and sophomore Ally Weaver had multiple hits, including an RBI by Weaver. Freshman Lindsey Haser and junior Alyssa Nehlen each had a hit and two RBIs. Graduate Hannah Marsteller had a double, an RBI and walk, while sophomore Katelyn Minney and Martell each had a hit and a walk.
 
The Raiders struggled in the circle against Adelphi, sophomore Alicia Ball and senior Hanna Phillips both threw 0.2 innings, with Ball striking out one Panther. Junior Emma Flattery threw the rest of the game against Adelphi and allowed two runs and struck out two Panthers.
 
Against Coker, freshman Kaira Zamadics started in the circle for the Raiders and threw 5.0 innings and had one strikeout. Leber came in as a relief pitcher and threw 2.0 innings and had two strikeouts, while Ball came in and threw 0.1 innings as a reliever in extra innings.
 
Shippensburg will be back tomorrow morning to face Adelphi at 10 a.m. and then Coker at 12:30 p.m.
 
Game 1: No. 11 Adelphi 8, Shippensburg 1
 
Adelphi came out strong in the top of the first; a double to center field and a single to left field gave the Panthers a 4-0 lead. The Panthers extended their lead in the next inning with two more runs from a squeeze bunt and a single to center field.
 
Shippensburg bounced back in the bottom of the second as Minney walked to put a Raider on base. Martell hits a double to center field and brought Minney home to reduce the deficit to five runs.
 
Adelphi scored again in the top of the fourth for a 7-1 lead. The Raiders had a chance in the bottom of the fourth to bring some runs in, as Lindsay singled to center field and Minney drew her second walk of the game but was unable to bring the runners home. A home run by Adelphi in the top of the seventh, extended their lead to 8-1. Leber came in as a pinch hitter in the bottom of the seventh inning, and singled to left field to be the third Raider to have a hit.
 
Adelphi's pitcher and NFCA All-American, Lindsey Hibbs, completed the game and struck out 15 Raiders. Hibbs was coming off of a game Wednesday in which she was one strikeout shy of tying the NCAA Division II single-game record, recording 20 strikeouts against UNC Pembroke. It is the most strikeouts against a Raider team since East Stroudsburg's Katie Zaun had 13 strikeouts, on April, 8, 2022, and the Raiders won that game, 4-1. The 15 strikeouts tie for the most strikeouts against a Raider team since March 3, 2015 against Northwood (Mich.)'s pitcher Vanessa Ewing, a game that the Raiders won 3-2.
 
Game 2: Coker 9, Shippensburg 6 (eight innings)
 
Shippensburg came out in the top of the first with a hit from Minney to the pitcher and a double from Marsteller but was unable to score a run.
 
In the bottom of the first, Coker, looking to keep their winning momentum after winning against Adelphi from a walk-off single earlier in the afternoon, had a single that almost plated a go-ahead runner but a perfect throw to home by Minney secured the third out.
 
SU struck first in the third inning with a sacrifice fly by Marsteller to center field that brought home Weaver, who got on base with a single to center field. Lindsay drew a walk to load the bases. Nehlen stepped up with a big hit to second base that brought Minney and Myers home.
 
The Cobras answered back in the bottom of the fourth with a sacrifice fly to center field and a single to right field to reduce the deficit to one run. Coker tied the game in the bottom of the sixth with a single down the left-field line.
 
With the international tiebreaker rule in play in the eighth inning, the Raiders were looking to score some runs. Haser had a massive hit to center field for a triple and two RBIs. Weaver then hit a single to right field to bring Haser home and give the Raiders a 6-3 lead.
 
Coker fought back to secure a walk-off home run in the bottom of the eight inning. A pair of singles by Cameron Jackson and Caitlyn Wray tied the game, but it was Kayla Oswell's three-run home run that secured the victory.
 
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