The Shippensburg University softball team started out its home record with two wins Friday, but lost its next two Saturday.

SU faced Indiana University of Pennsylvania (IUP) in a doubleheader Friday at the season opener at SU’s Robb Field. The team picked up its first wins at home, 2–0 and 6–3.

Both of the Raiders’ starting pitchers on the day threw complete games and kept IUP at bay all day. Chloe Collins threw a shutout in the first game, while only giving up four hits, and Taryn Wilson only gave up three runs in seven innings of work, throwing eight strikeouts.

Collins not only had a stellar day on the mound, but was also a dominant force at the plate. She went 4-for-7 over both games with a home run, three RBIs and a stolen base. She also threw four strikeouts in her victory.

The first game was fairly uneventful, with both teams being pretty quiet on offense. Collins dominated IUP’s batters and did not allow them to gain any momentum, only getting into a tough situation a couple of times. SU could not get much going either, outside of its two runs in the third.

The second game of the day was much more involved. The game started out with a bang, with Collins hitting a two-run home run in the first inning.

The runs kept coming for the Raiders in the second, when Macy Luck hit an RBI single to score Maddie Mulhall. Luck then scored on a steal later in the inning.

Kayla Bonawitz also had a good day, scoring two runs, stealing two bases and getting two hits on the day. Ten of the 11 players in both games reached base at least once with multiple Raiders having more than one hit.

The team traveled to Johnstown, Pennsylvania, Saturday for another doubleheader, this time with the Mountain Cats of the University of Pitt-Johnstown (UPJ).

The Raiders dropped both games by only one run, losing 2–1 and 5–4. The team played hard and had lots of offense, but was unable to pull out the wins. Luck went 4-for-7 with a stolen base and Meghan Klee had a solo home run as one of her two hits on the day.

UPJ scored its only runs of the first game in the third on a two-run home run. Mulhall hit a sacrifice fly in the top half of the inning, to give SU an early lead before UPJ came back. The Raiders were unable to get any more significant offense for the rest of the game.

The Mountain Cats scored three runs in the first inning of the second game and followed up with another in the second to grab the early 4–0 lead. SU responded in the third and fourth, scoring one and two, respectively, to make it a one-run game.

The game was tied up in the sixth after Kendall Geis hit an RBI single, but UPJ responded in the bottom half of the inning to take the lead back. The Raiders were held in the seventh to give the Mountain Cats the win.

SU’s record is now 15–10 after the weekend. The team will welcome Kutztown University to Robb Field Friday for another doubleheader starting at 2:30 p.m.

Share