The Shippensburg University softball team rallied Friday for a split at its Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Eastern Division rival East Stroudsburg, winning Game 2 by a 5-0 score after dropping the opener 2-1 in nine innings at sunny Creekview Park.
Shippensburg (21-11, 9-7 PSAC East) out-hit East Stroudsburg (21-13, 9-7) on the day, 17-10, including 13-3 in Game 2.
Leah Schwalm was 4-for-6 with a walk and a sacrifice bunt, while
Caitlyn Martell had a solo home run and a double among her four hits.
SU received a pair of masterful pitching performances from
Dani Hayward and
Kaira Zamadics. Hayward went the distance in Game 1, allowing two runs on seven hits in a career-high 8.2 innings pitched. She struck out six and walked just one.
Zamadics delivered her second complete-game shutout of the season and her career, allowing just three singles, a hit batter and three walks while striking out four.
With Friday's split, SU claimed the regular-season series over East Stroudsburg, 3-1. The Raiders outscored the Warriors 20-9 over the course of four games.
Shippensburg remains on the road tomorrow and will face Bloomsburg at 1 p.m. at Jan Hutchinson Field. The Raiders will be looking to snap a seven-game losing streak against the Huskies.
Game 1: ESU 2, SHIP 1 (nine innings)
Gianna Cimino and Schwalm recorded the first hits of the day with a pair of singles in the top of the first inning. SU was unable to score, leaving two runners on base.
ESU got its first base runner of the day in the bottom of the second after a walk with two outs, but a quick groundout to Hayward kept the game scoreless.
Both pitchers made quick work of the third inning with no base runners and six straight outs.
Schwalm leadoff the fourth inning with a single, but three straight outs from the Warriors ended the inning.
The Warriors recorded their first hit of the day in the fourth inning. The first run of the day came in the bottom of the fifth inning, ESU recorded a double with two outs followed by an RBI single to make it 1-0.
Martell opened the top of the sixth with a double and moved to third on a sacrifice bunt from Cimino. Schwalm drew a walk to put two SU runners on with one out.
Reagan Bauman recorded an RBI with a ground out to score Martell and tie the game.
The Raiders drew a pair of walks in the top of the seventh, but a strikeout ended the inning to keep the score 1-1.
Hayward opened the bottom of the seventh with a strikeout. The Warriors threatened with a single, but a fielder's choice out and a strikeout sent the game to extra innings.
SU opened the top of the eighth with Cimino reaching base after being hit by a pitch. Schwalm sacrificed Cimino to second base, but the Warriors recovered from a near miscue to get Cimino out at third base.
ESU led off with a single in the bottom of the eighth. Martell got the lead runner out on a fielder's choice for the first out of the inning. Another fielder's choice and a ground out moved the game into the top of the ninth.
Brie Wilmot was the lone baserunner in the top of the ninth for the Raiders after drawing her second walk of the game.
The Warriors hit a leadoff single to start the bottom of the ninth. The Raiders got two outs but ESU still had a runner on second. With two strikes, Katie Master hit a double up the middle to scoring the winning run and end the game at 2-1.
Hayward exceeded seven innings for the first time in her career. She threw 120 pitches, scattered seven hits and struck out six batters.
Schwalm led the offense going 2-for-2 with a pair of singles, recording a sacrifice bunt and drawing a walk in her other at bats. Martell and Cimino each added a hit.
Warrior All-American pitcher Sarah Davenport rebounded from a tough first start of the season against Shippensburg to record the win, striking out nine. Davenport allowed just four hits, walked four, and hit one batter in a 149-pitch complete game.
It was Davenport's sixth career start and 11th career appearance against the Raiders. She is now 3-5 with a 3.09 ERA in her career against SU, having struck out 69 in 54.1 innings.
GAME 2: SHIP 5, ESU 0
Shippensburg struck for two runs quickly in the top of the first against Warrior starter Tessa Guenette. A one-out walk to Cimino and a single by Schwalm put two runners on base.
Reagan Bauman then singled home Cimino to make it 1-0.
With two outs,
Emilee Sullivan brought Bauman home with a single.
The Raiders had a chance to blow the game open in the second inning, loading the bases with nobody out. Guenette navigated the tightrope with back-to-back fielder's choice grounders that got outs at home plate, followed by a traditional groundout, to keep the game 2-0.
Zamadics did not allow a hit until a two-out single through the left side in the third. SU's lead became 3-0 in the top of the fourth when Martell homered to left on a 2-2 pitch. It was Martell's second home run in the last three games and her fourth of the season.
ESU's best scoring threat came in the bottom half of the inning, as the Warriors loaded the bases with one out. Zamadics faced pinch hitter Faith Troyer, who delivered the pinch-hit double in Game 1 that led to the first run of that contest. In this circumstance, Zamadics struck out Troyer, and then got a groundout to escape the jam.
Shippensburg added two more runs in the fifth on RBI-singles by
Lindsey Haser and Martell. The Raiders finished the game with 13 hits but also left 12 runners on base.
Zamadics retired nine of the final 10 batters she faced for the shutout. Her four strikeouts were a season high.
Guenette allowed five runs on 12 hits in 4.2 innings. She falls to 0-2 with a 6.56 ERA against the Raiders this season (10 ER in 10.2 innings pitched) but has otherwise gone 8-1 with a 2.32 ERA against all other opposition (19 ER in 57.1 innings pitched).
Season Series Note: Schwalm (8-for-13), Sullivan (7-for-15) and Martell (7-for-16) combined for 22 of Shippensburg's 41 hits against the Warriors this season, while Delaney Ridgell (7-for-13) and Megan Chroniger (6-for-13, double) combined for 13 of ESU's 28 hits against the Raiders this season.
