The Shippensburg University softball team wrapped up its weekend in Virginia on Sunday with a pair of regional victories, defeating Slippery Rock by a 9-8 score and Glenville State by a 6-2 margin in action at the Botetourt Complex in Salem.
 
Shippensburg (10-4) endured another roller coaster day and had to come from behind to claim both victories. The Raiders cranked out 19 hits (eight for extra bases) and 10 walks but also allowed 17 hits (including three home runs).
 
Dani Hayward pitched in both games; she earned the save in Game 1 and the complete-game victory in Game 2. Hayward threw nine innings, allowed three earned runs, and struck out 11.
 
Caitlyn Martell capped off an excellent weekend by reaching base six times. Martell was 4-for-7 with three doubles and two walks. Leah Schwalm also had four hits.
 
Reagan Bauman hit her fourth home run of the season; she had two hits, two walks and four RBIs. Lindsey Haser delivered three doubles in Game 1 out of the No. 9 spot of the batting order.
 
Gianna Cimino contributed three RBIs, while Brie Wilmot had an RBI-single and worked three walks.
 
Shippensburg begins conference play at 1 p.m. Friday when it hosts rival East Stroudsburg for a doubleheader at Robb Field.
 
Shippensburg 9, Slippery Rock 8
 
Slippery Rock (6-7) was the "home" team with the final at-bat in this game. The Rock took a 4-0 lead four batters into the game, beginning their first at-bat in the bottom of the first with a double, a walk, a hit-by-pitch and a grand slam.
 
SU tied the game in the third with four runs. With one out, Haser hit her first of three straight doubles, followed by a Martell walk and an RBI-single by Cimino. Two batters later, with two outs, Bauman launched a three-run homer to left-center field that made the score 4-4.
 
Raider pitcher Mikayla Fontana, who entered in relief in the bottom of the first inning, retired the first 10 batters she faced. Slippery Rock re-gained the lead in the bottom of the fourth with a one-out solo home run.
 
Shippensburg scored five runs in the fifth inning to re-gain the lead and then had to hold on down the stretch to maintain the advantage. The rally began with a Schwalm single, a Bauman walk and an RBI-single by Wilmot.
 
An RBI-groundout by Emilee Sullivan gave SU a 6-5 lead. With two outs, the Raiders got three straight run-scoring hits – an RBI-single by Sarah Sabocsik, an RBI-double by Haser, and an RBI-double by Martell.
 
The Rock got two back in the bottom of the fifth with a two-out rally – a single and a home run made it 9-7. Hayward entered in relief in the sixth – she struck out the side in the frame but in between gave up an RBI-double with one out.
 
SRU got the tying run to second base with two outs in the seventh but a Hayward strikeout ended the game.
 
Fontana got the win; she allowed three runs on five hits in five innings of work while striking out two. The save for Hayward was her first of the season and the second of her career.
 
Shippensburg 6, Glenville State 2
 
Shippensburg served as the "home" team in its game against Glenville State (13-6).
 
Both teams threatened in the first but left two runners on base. The game remained scoreless until the top of the fourth, when the Pioneers scored twice with two outs on back-to-back RBI-singles.
 
SU threatened again in the bottom of the fifth; putting runners on second and third with two outs but to no avail.
 
A six-run sixth inning proved to be the difference. Schwalm led it off with a double, and then immediately came around to score on an RBI-single by Bauman. Walks by Wilmot and Sullivan loaded the bases with no outs; they were each replaced on the basepaths by Emily Lafferty and Ryan Morse respectively.
 
A fielder's choice resulted in the first out, but Rilee Ehrlacher then came through with her second hit of the weekend – a two-run single up the middle that gave SU a 3-2 lead.
 
A foul out, followed by an "unintentional intentional" walk to Martell re-loaded the bases with two outs. Cimino singled home two, and Schwalm singled home another to cap the rally.
 
Hayward scattered two singles in the seventh by recording two of her seven strikeouts in the game. She did not walk a batter en route to her seventh complete game of the season and the 18th of her young career.
 
SU did not strikeout at all in Game 2. Martell did not record an out; she was 3-for-3 with two doubles, a single and a walk.