Knopf Wins Fourth-Straight, Lady Raiders Split With Mansfield
Apr. 22, 2007
SHIPPENSBURG, Pa. - Sophomore
Lori Knopf (Crown Point, Ind./Andrean) won her fourth consecutive appearance,
including
third start, to help the Shippensburg softball team to a doubleheader split
with Mansfield Sunday afternoon at Robb Field.
Knopf struck out seven and allowed just two hits in posting her third shutout
this season as Shippensburg (26-19, 9-9 PSAC East) won game two, 2-0.
In her last four appearances, Knopf has totaled 24 strikeouts in 23.0 innings,
allowing only 13 hits and one run for a 0.30 ERA. Her last loss came back
on April 6 in game one of a doubleheader at West Chester, 5-2.
Game one featured another strong pitching performance as Michelle Forsburg
also struck out seven while scattering seven hits and allowing three unearned
runs as Mansfield (6-25, 3-13 PSAC East) battled back from a two-run deficit
to take a 5-3 victory.
Offensively for the Lady Raiders in the second game, they would score one
unearned run in the bottom of the first which would prove to be enough when
junior Sarah Stengl (High Springs, Fla./Hollidaysburg (Pa.)) reached on a
throwing error, allowing sophomore Rachelle Wedell (Baltimore, Md./Northeast) to score from third.
In the third inning, Shippensburg added another unearned run when sophomore
Amanda Bardo (Montoursville/Montoursville) hit an RBI-single in the hole
to shortstop which scored freshman Nicole Henninger (Reading/Muhlenburg).
Henninger advanced to third when Stengl reached on a second Mountaineer fielding
error.
Henninger finished the game 2-for-3 and is currently batting .400 with 54
hits and 40 RBIs, all team-highs, through 45 games. She also has hit a school-record
10 home runs.
In the circle, Knopf faced just five batters over the minimum in improving
her record to 8-5 this season.
In game one, Henninger drove in two of Shippensburg’s three runs with
a two-run double down the left field line in the bottom of the third to score
Wedell and sophomore Chelsea Carson (Shippensburg/Shippensburg) that gave
the Lady Raiders a 3-1 lead.
Carson totaled three of Shippensburg’s seven hits in the game as she
went 3-for-4 to extend her hitting streak to five games, one short of her
career-high. Her three hits were a career-high as she has hit safely in 10
of her last 15 games since becoming a full-time starter in centerfield.
Trailing 3-1, the Mountaineers got four runs in the top of the fourth, tying
the game on a two-run single by Erin Hackett before scoring the final two
runs on bases loaded walks by Jess Christ and Jen Stein.
Shippensburg, who is now just one game behind East Stroudsburg for third-place
in the PSAC Eastern Division following the Warriors two losses at Bloomsburg
on Sunday, will travel to Mansfield on Tuesday for a doubleheader beginning
at 2:30 p.m.
The Lady Raiders host East Stroudsburg on Friday before the Warriors travel
to Bloomsburg on Sunday.
- Lady Raider Softball -
