SHIPPENSBURG, Pa. – The Shippensburg University softball team continued its home stretch on Thursday afternoon by picking up victories over Felician, winning Game 1, 7-2, and taking Game 2, 14-5 in five innings, at Robb Field.
 
Shippensburg (7-3) totaled 20 hits on the day, with 11 coming in the second game. The Raiders also drew 10 walks and struck out just twice overall.
 
Senior Maelynn Leber continued her success out of the designated player spot with a team-high four hits, going 4-for-6 with four RBIs. Three players had three hits, including senior Taylor Myers, who hit the first home run of her career with a three-run, inside-the-park shot in Game 2.
 
The breakout star of the day was first-year outfielder Sarah Sabocsik, who went 3-for-6 with two homers, eight RBIs, a double, a steal and six runs scored.
 
Sabocsik had all eight of her RBIs in Game 2 – the most by a Raider in a single game since the year 2000. Exactly 24 years ago to the day (March 7, 2000), Katie Rowlands Carr had nine RBIs in a 17-5 win over Mount Olive in a game played in Florida.
 
Senior Morgan Lindsay walked in all four of her plate appearances in Game 2, marking the first time that a Raider drew four walks in a game since Morgan DeFeo did so on March 9, 2022 against Chestnut Hill. Overall, Lindsay was 1-for-3 on the day with five walks.
 
Shippensburg will continue its home stretch at noon Friday with a doubleheader against West Liberty.
 
Game One (7-2)
 
The first game of the afternoon started as a pitching showcase, with junior Alicia Ball garnering seven strikeouts in the first three innings alone. Felician (3-7) got a pair of scoreless innings to start from pitcher Riley Williams.
 
In the bottom of the third, SU opened the scoring. Junior Katelyn Minney singled up the middle, advancing to third off a single by Myers through the right side. A single to the shortstop by sophomore Caitlyn Martell advanced Myers to second and brought Minney home, giving the Raiders the first run of the game. Lindsay then singled to right center to bring Myers home, extending the lead to 2-0.
 
Sabocsik walked to start the bottom of the fourth inning, and sophomore Emilee Sullivan used a sacrifice bunt to advance Sabocsik to second. Leber then sent the first pitch she saw into center field, giving Sabocsik enough room to score, and extending Shippensburg's lead to 3-0.
 
Martell sent the sixth pitch of her at-bat in the bottom of the fifth into orbit for a home run to center field – her third home run of the season – to move the lead to four runs. After walks to Lindsay and freshman Brie Wilmot and a fielder's choice by Sabocsik, Sullivan singled up the middle to plate freshman pinch runner Justyce Richard and make it 5-0. Leber doubled to right field two pitches later to bring Sabocsik and Sullivan home and give SU a 7-0 lead after five.
 
Felician's Mia Martinez started the sixth inning for the Golden Falcons by being hit by a pitch. Layla Albarran singled to right field, advancing Martinez to second. Makayla De La Rosa singled up the middle, advancing Albarran to second and Martinez home, getting Felician on the board with one run. Mikayla Brown later singled to right center, advancing Sadie Kittoe to second and De La Rosa to home plate to cut the Raiders' lead to 7-2.
 
The Golden Falcons could not sustain the offense in the seventh, with two groundouts and a Ball strikeout to end the game.
 
Ball pitched a complete game, garnering 10 strikeouts on the day. It's her second straight game and third time this season she has recorded double-digit strikeouts (fourth time in her career). She pitched six scoreless innings against Felician, only allowing the two runs in the sixth. Ball also picked up her fourth win of the season.
 
Game Two (14-5, 5 innings)
 
Felician used a strong offensive spurt with two outs in the top of the first. Daisha Howard reached on a fielding error, and Kathryn Steinmetz launched the third pitch of her at-bat over the left-field fence for a two-run home run to give the Golden Falcons an early 2-0 lead.
 
Sabocsik continued her hot streak, hitting a ground-rule double to start the bottom of the second for the Raiders. Sullivan lined out to right field, allowing Sabocsik to advance to third. Leber singled down the left-field line to bring Sabocsik home, cutting the Golden Falcon lead in half at 2-1.
 
Steinmetz singled into left field before taking second off a wild pitch to start the third inning for Felician. Mia Martinez walked on four pitches, with pinch runner Lacey Camden advancing to third on a wild pitch. Sadie Kittoe doubled into right field, advancing Martinez to third and Camden home, extending Felician's lead to 3-1. Pinch hitter Victorie Leon singled to center field, allowing Kittoe and Martinez to score, expanding the Golden Falcon lead to 5-1.
 
SU answered quickly in the bottom of the third. The Raiders started the inning by loading the bases with no outs, as Myers beat out a single, Martell doubled and Lindsay walked. After a flyout, Sabocsik hit into a fielder's choice to get Myers home for Shippensburg's second run of Game 2. Sabocsik then stole second to advance into scoring position for the Raiders, and a Sullivan single up the middle brought home both runners to cut the lead down to 5-4 after three innings.
 
Senior Alyssa Nehlen singled up the middle to start the fourth inning for the Raiders. Two batters later, Lindsay walked on four pitches, advancing Nehlen to second. Wilmot walked on seven pitches to load the bases. Sabocsik hit the fourth pitch she faced over the center-field wall for a grand slam – her first collegiate home run – to put SU up 8-5.
 
Shippensburg's offense continued its spark in the fifth with six more runs to win the game early. With one out, Minney and Nehlen walked, setting up Myers for another Game 2 first. Myers, who had been facing a defensive shift throughout the day, looped the fourth pitch into a vacated right field, and she raced around the bases for a three-run, inside-the-park home run to extend the Raider lead to 11-5.
 
Another four-pitch walk to Lindsay and a single from Wilmot set the Raiders up for what proved to be the decisive hit, as Sabocsik sent another ball into center field to almost the identical spot of her grand slam, this time for a three-run home run that ended Game 2 at 14-5 due to the run rule.
 
Minney started in the circle for the Raiders, pitching two innings and totaling three strikeouts. Freshman Madalyn Dyer entered in relief of freshman Maddy Borowski in the third, pitching 2.2 innings and recording six strikeouts on the day. Dyer picked up her first collegiate win.