No. 24 Softball Extends Win Streak to Five, Sweeps Shepherd 4-2, 2-1
Mar. 28, 2007
SHIPPENSBURG, Pa. - Sophomore Amanda Bardo (Montoursville/Montoursville) had a game-winning RBI-single in game two while sophomore Kelly Nelson (Warminster/William Tennent) had a two-run homer in game one to help lift the No. 24-ranked Shippensburg softball team to a sweep of Shepherd Wednesday afternoon at Robb Field, 4-2 and 2-1.
Shippensburg (17-10) has now won five-straight after a season-long four-game losing streak that dropped the team from No. 18 in the NFCA Division II Top 25 to No. 24 in the new poll that was released on Wednesday.
The Lady Raiders' two wins also marked the fourth-straight over a team from the West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WVIAC) after they swept a doubleheader at home against Seton Hill on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, the two losses were the seventh consecutive for Shepherd (10-11) after the team started the season 10-4. Six of those losses during that time have come against five teams in the PSAC.
With two outs and the score tied at 1-1 in the bottom of the sixth of game two, Bardo's single to right center scored Nelson from second to give Shippensburg a 2-1 lead. Bardo's game-winning hit came right after the Rams tied the game in the top of the inning on an RBI-single by Mia Zappacosta.
The Lady Raiders then had runners on first and second after a pass ball and a walk by junior Sarah Stengl (High Springs, Fla./Hollidaysburg (Pa.)) looking to add some insurance runs, but a line drive to left field by freshman Lisamarie Ramagli (Levittown/Neshaminy) was caught, ending the inning.
In the top of the seventh, Rae Johnson drew a one-out walk before Shippensburg junior Dani Shields (Laurel, Del./Sussex Tech) struck out the next two batters swinging for her 10th and 11th strikeouts of the game, one short of her season-high and three shy of her career-high.
Shields allowed just four hits and one earned run in seven innings to pick up her eighth win of the season which is the third-most among conference pitchers.
The Lady Raiders scored their first run in the fourth when junior Jill Kirby (Glen Mills/Garnet Valley) entered the game as a pinch runner for sophomore Rachelle Wedell (Baltimore, Md./Northeast) and scored on a single to right by freshman Nicole Henninger (Reading/Muhlenberg).
In the opener, Nelson broke open a scoreless game in the bottom of the fourth with her fourth home run of the season to left center, scoring Wedell who led off with a single up the middle. Zappacosta had taken a no-hitter into the inning before losing it and the shutout during the first two at-bats.
Shippensburg would add to its lead in the fifth Henninger singled up the middle to score Wedell and junior Liz Good (Croydon/Truman).
In the circle, sophomore Lori Knopf (Crown Point, Ind./Andrean) earned her second-straight decision after holding the Rams scoreless through six innings before surrendering two runs in the top of the seventh. She finished the game with four strikeouts while limiting Shepherd to just nine hits, three of which came in the seventh.
Nelson and Henninger, the team's top two leaders in home runs in RBIs, both finished the game 1-for-3 with two RBIs while Wedell was 2-for-3 with two runs scored.
Shippensburg will now travel to face rival Bloomsburg on Friday in a match-up of two top-25 teams as the Huskies enter the game ranked at No. 18 in Wednesday's poll. The first game of Friday's doubleheader from Hutchinson Field starts at 2:00 p.m.
- Lady Raider Softball -
