The Shippensburg University softball team took one step closer to earning a postseason berth by splitting a Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Eastern Division doubleheader at Mansfield Friday.
 
The Raiders (31-15, 18-12 PSAC East) won Game 1, 8-0, before falling in the nightcap by a 6-4 final score. The victory in Friday's opener puts SU just one win away from clinching a spot in next week's PSAC Tournament.
 
For Mansfield (13-29, 4-28), the Game 2 victory marked the 500th in the 33-year career of head coach Edith Gallagher.
 
SU hosts Senior Day at 1 p.m. tomorrow against Kutztown at Robb Field.
 
A sweep of Saturday's home doubleheader against Kutztown would result in SU earning the PSAC Tournament's No. 2 seed courtesy of its tie-breaker over West Chester (better head-to-head record against No. 1 seed East Stroudsburg).
 
Game 1: Shippensburg 8, Mansfield 0
 
Junior Alicia Ball tossed a complete game shutout in the circle, while senior Morgan Lindsay and sophomore Caitlyn Martell played a role in five of Shippensburg's eight runs during the Game 1 triumph.
 
Ball was effectively wild, pitching around six walks and four hits over seven frames. She recorded 12 outs on groundballs, eight via strikeout, and just one fly out en route to her fourth shutout of the season.
 
Lindsay blasted a solo home run in the sixth and finished 2-for-3 with three RBIs and a run scored, while Martell went 2-for-2 at the plate with three runs scored and one driven in.
 
Lindsay got the scoring started with a sacrifice fly – scoring Martell – during the Raiders' two-run top of the first. Freshman Sarah Sabocsik later scored from third on a passed ball to make it 2-0 Ship.
 
Martell scored in the third and the fifth on RBI knocks from freshman Brie Wilmot and Lindsay.
 
Ball got some help from her defense in the home half the fifth inning, as junior Katelyn Minney made a running shoe-string catch of a shallow fly ball in right field and fired a strike to sophomore third baseman Emilee Sullivan to nab a base runner attempting to tag up to complete a spectacular double play.
 
The Raider lineup added three more runs in their next turn. Freshman Reagan Bauman plated a run on a passed ball and senior Taylor Myers drove in another on an RBI groundout. Martell then singled home senior Alyssa Nehlen, who stroked a double earlier in the frame.
 
Lindsay's moonshot to straightaway center provided the cherry on top of a dominant SU win.
 
Game 2: Mansfield 6, Shippensburg 4
 
The potential tying run came to plate for Shippensburg in each of the last three innings, but SU was unable to dig out from an early deficit in the nightcap.
 
Mansfield's Fallon Kelley launched a three-run bomb, and Carly Wywoda followed with a two-run double to give the Mountaineers a 5-0 advantage before an out was recorded.
 
After the Raiders plated an unearned run in the fourth, Lindsay stroked an RBI single – her fourth RBI of the twinbill – in the fifth to make it a 6-2 game.
 
Martell plated two more with an RBI double in the sixth, but the Raiders could not get the big hit late to complete the comeback.
 
Mansfield starter Annabella Putman earned the complete game victory, scattering six hits and four runs (three earned) over seven frames.
 
Shippensburg senior Maelynn Leber pitched well in relief, allowing one run on four hits and recording four punchouts in six innings of work.