No. 18 Softball Gets Back on Winning Track With Sweep of Seton Hill
Mar. 27, 2007
SHIPPENSBURG, Pa. - After losing
four of its last five, the No. 18-ranked Shippensburg softball team regained
some of its confidence on Tuesday with a doubleheader sweep of Seton Hill
at Robb Field in the Lady Raiders' home opener, 8-0 and 9-1.
Shippensburg (15-10) totaled 17 runs on 22 hits over the two games on Tuesday
compared to 19 in five games over the weekend when the team went 1-4. The
Lady Raider pitching staff also responded by allowing just one run to the
Griffins after surrendering 33 during the team's five games in Salem, Virginia.
In game one, junior Dani Shields (Laurel, Del./Sussex Tech) totaled nine
strikeouts in picking up her seventh win of the season and snapping a two-game
winless streak. She also appeared in her fourth game offensively, totaling
three at-bats. In eight plate appearances this season, Shields is batting
.375 with three hits and one RBI.
Freshman Nicole Henninger (Reading/Muhlenberg) continued her hot-streak,
totaling her team-leading 12th multi-hit game of the season, going 2-for-2
with three RBIs and two runs. Senior Katie Heatley (York/Dallastown) was
also 2-for-2 with two RBIs as the Lady Raiders totaled seven runs over the
final two innings.
Leading 1-0 going into the bottom of the third, Shippensburg scored three
runs, two of which came on a two-run double down the left field line by Heatley
that scored Henninger and sophomore Kelly Nelson (Warminster/William
Tennent).
In the fourth, the Lady Raiders sealed the victory with four more runs, all
as a result of Henninger who drove in three with a triple to right center.
She would then score on the same play after a throwing error.
Meanwhile, Shields allowed just two hits, retiring 15 of the 17 batters she
faced, including the final three in order in the top of the fifth, two of
which came by strikeout.
In the second game, Nelson erupted for three RBIs, going 2-for-3 with a run
while freshman Lisamarie Ramagli (Levittown/Neshaminy) went 2-for-3 as well
with two RBIs and a run. Nelson now has 18 RBIs this season, one shy of Henninger
team-leading 19. It was Nelson's fourth game this season with at least three
RBIs.
Trailing 3-0 after four innings, Seton Hill (4-8) scored its lone run, unearned,
in the top of the fifth after Heather Patton scored on a fielding error.
However, the Griffins' hopes of a comeback were thwarted in the bottom of
the inning as Shippensburg scored six runs on seven hits to envoke the eight-run
rule for the second-straight game. Following Nelson's two-out, two-RBI single
to right center, Henninger singled to shortstop to load the bases before
Heatley ended the game with a sacrifice fly to center that scored sophomore Rachelle Wedell (Baltimore, Md./Northeast).
In the circle, junior Jill Kirby (Glen Mills/Garnet Valley) earned her second
win in her last three starts, scattering six hits while allowing one unearned
run in 4 1/3 innings. Sophomore Lori Knopf (Crown Point, Ind./Andrean) entered
the game in the top of the fifth to record the final two outs, retiring two
of the three batters she faced.
Shippensburg will host its second consecutive opponent from the West Virginia
Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WVIAC) on Wednesday when it welcomes
Shepherd to Robb Field for a doubleheader beginning at 2:00 p.m.
- Lady Raider Softball -
