Gallery: (4-14-2024) 2024 Softball vs. Bloomsburg
SHIPPENSBURG, Pa. – The Shippensburg University softball team came within one out of a victory in its Sunday opener with rival Bloomsburg yet shook off an opening-game loss with a Game 2 run-rule victory to split its Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Eastern Division against the Huskies on a sunny, warm, and windy day at Robb Sports Complex.
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Shippensburg (28-10, 15-7 PSAC East) and Bloomsburg (24-15, 13-9) had two more highly competitive games in the latest acquaintance between the two teams that reached the PSAC Championship Tournament finals last season. It also marked the third consecutive regular-season series split between the two teams dating back to last season. BU won the opener 9-5, while SU won the nightcap, 10-2 in six innings.
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SU led for the majority of Game 1, including a 4-1 lead after three innings, knocking Husky starter Kelly Eberly out of the game in the third. BU battled against junior
Alicia Ball, eventually tying the game in the top of the sixth, 4-4. A sacrifice fly by freshman
Sarah Sabocsik gave the Raiders a 5-4 lead heading into the final inning.
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Bloomsburg worked a one-out single and sacrificed the runner to second base with two outs. In a 2-2 count, Mia Nemeth was hit by a pitch. Two pitches later, freshman Josie Straigis smacked a pitch over the left-field wall for a three-run home run. BU added two more runs off junior reliever
Katelyn Minney, and the five-run seventh gave the visitors a 9-5 victory and dealt the Raiders just their second home loss of the season.
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The Huskies got a two-out single in the first inning of Game 2 against freshman
Madalyn Dyer, but that would be the only runs allowed on the day by the first-year Raider starter. SU countered with two runs against Lindsay Reinoehl in the bottom of the first, took a 3-2 lead in the second, and led 4-2 after four. The Husky defense unraveled in the bottom of the sixth, and six Raider runs resulted in a shortened game and a 10-2 final.
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Senior
Taylor Myers was 4-for-8 on the day with a double, four RBI, a stolen base and two runs scored. In four games against the Huskies this season, Myers was 7-for-14 with three extra-base hits and four runs scored.
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Myers moved into second place in school history for career runs (172) and is 23 runs shy of
Hannah Marsteller's school record. Myers' 64 hits this season lead the PSAC and are seven more than Seton Hill's Nina Grandey in second place. Her .448 batting average ranks fourth in the league.
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Senior
Morgan Lindsay was 3-for-6 with a sacrifice fly, a walk and a run scored. Lindsay is now tied for fourth in school history for career RBI (132) with Hope Cornell and sits in sole possession of fourth in school history for career walks (72).
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Minney was 3-for-6 at the plate with two walks, two RBI, two runs and a stolen base. She moved past Jill Mullan to rank third in school history for career stolen bases (53). In four games this season against Bloomsburg, Minney was 6-for-11 with two walks.
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Freshman
Emily Lafferty was 3-for-4 with a stolen base and three runs scored in Game 2. Sabocsik finished the day 2-for-4 with three RBI and three runs scored, reaching base five times overall (two walks, one hit-by-pitch). Senior
Alyssa Nehlen reached base four times, singling twice and walking twice.
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Dyer improved to 9-2 on the season, scattering two runs, seven hits and two walks in six innings in Game 2. Neither Bloomsburg nor Shippensburg struck out for the entirety of Game 2. Overall on the day, there were only four total strikeouts (two by each team in the opener) while there were 13 combined walks.
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Shippensburg hosts Shepherd at 1 p.m. Tuesday at Robb Field.
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