SHIPPENSBURG, Pa. – The Shippensburg University softball team opened its home schedule Friday by slugging four home runs to stave off non-conference opponent Goldey-Beacom, posting wins of 5-1 and 10-4 over the Lightning at Robb Field.
 
Shippensburg (4-2) had three players total four or more hits in the doubleheader. Sophomore Caitlyn Martell went 5-for-8 with a solo home run, a walk and four runs scored. Senior Morgan Lindsay also had multiple hits in both games, finishing 4-for-8 with a two-run homer, a double and two runs scored.
 
Friday marked a breakthrough performance for freshman Brie Wilmot, who collected two hits in both games and continues to emerge as a viable starter at first base. Wilmot hit two home runs in Game 2, including a go-ahead grand slam in Game 2. Over the last three games, Wilmot has eight hits (four for extra bases) in 12 at-bats with eight RBIs in that span.
 
Junior southpaw reliever Katelyn Minney appeared in both games and was a part of the pitching line in each – recording a save in Game 1 and the win in Game 2. Overall for the day, Minney fired 2.2 scoreless innings and retired eight of the nine batters she faced.
 
Shippensburg will return to action in eight days when it hosts Slippery Rock at 1 p.m. next Saturday, March 2.
 
Game One
 
The Raiders started game one strong as senior Taylor Myers led off with a single and then stole second. Myers took third on an error and scored on a Martell RBI-single. SU later loaded the bases in the inning but managed just the one run.
 
SU capitalized in the third with a clutch RBI-single with two outs from junior Aryanna Briddell that plated Lindsay. The fourth inning provided further cushion, as SU scored three more runs with two outs. Junior Ally Weaver was clonked on the helmet with one out and stole second. She moved to third base with two outs after a groundout, and Martell sent the first pitch she saw into center field to make it 3-0.
 
One pitch later, Lindsay sent her third home run of the season into orbit to make it a 5-0 game.
 
Goldey-Beacom got on the board in the top of the sixth with an RBI groundout from Morgan Scott. The Lightning scratched together back-to-back singles with one out to put runners on the corners. Junior starting pitcher Alicia Ball negotiated her way out of further trouble and earned her second win of the season, striking out two over six innings.
 
Minney earned her first collegiate save; she entered a jam in the seventh inheriting two runners on with nobody out. She needed just six pitches to get three outs, inducing a flyout, foul out and groundout for the win.
 
Game Two
 
SU once again started hot in the first inning, using a Wilmot two-run home run to open the scoring. Wilmot's rocket hit halfway up the bleachers at the Robb Sports Complex bleachers.

Goldey-Beacom answered quickly, getting three runs in the second inning by capitalizing on an error to prolong the inning. A two-run single by Bryn Bohmann gave the Lightning a 3-2 lead.
 
Martell launched a deep home run to center field in the third to even the score at three apiece. An RBI-single by Myers in the fourth plated senior Alyssa Nehlen to give SU a 4-3 lead.
 
Goldey-Beacom answered again in the top of the sixth, as Rayna Pelcak hit into a fielder's choice to tie it at 4-4.
 
A decisive six-run bottom of the sixth began with back-to-back-to-back singles by Myers, Martell and Lindsay. In the sixth pitch of her at-bat, and in a full count, Wilmot nuked a grand slam off the scoreboard beyond the left-centerfield fence to break the game open.
 
SU added to more runs with an RBI-single by sophomore Emilee Sullivan and a pinch-hit RBI-double by junior Emma Mackulin.
 
Minney got the win by getting the final two outs of the sixth. She pitched the final 1.2 innings overall and allowed a lone single.
 
Freshman Maddy Borowski got the start but lasted just 1.2 innings. Senior Maelynn Leber had a strong relief appearance, throwing 3.2 innings and scattering a lone run on three hits.