Shippensburg University’s softball team traveled to North Carolina for two series this past weekend. SU swept Catawba in a two-game set on Saturday, and then went on to split two games with Wingate on Sunday. 

Against Catawba, the Raiders won both games by four runs, winning 7-3 and 9-5. 

In the first inning of the first game, senior Caitlyn Martell started the season off strong with a home run to center field.

In the second inning, SU added another run for a 2-0 lead when senior Emilee Sullivan singled to bring in senior Rilee Ehrlacher. 

Shippensburg did not see much action again until the fifth inning. Sophomore Gianna Cimino hit the second home run of the game to make the score 3-0. 

One inning later in the sixth, the Raiders secured their win after posting four more runs and increasing their lead by seven. Junior Reagan Bauman started the inning with a hit by pitch, but the following two batters recorded outs. 

However, Sullivan singled again to keep the action going. Senior Lindsey Haser doubled, which brought Bauman home and advanced Sullivan to third. 

Mistakes from Catawba kept the Raiders’ inning alive, too. Martell reached first base on an error, and Sullivan scored. Cimino drew a walk, and junior Sarah Sabocsik singled up the middle to earn two runs batted in (RBIs). 

The Indians started to answer back a little in the last two innings. In the sixth, they scored their first run on an RBI single. In the seventh, they added two more runs to their score on a solo home run and another RBI single. 

On the mound for SU was sophomore Dani Hayward who earned the win. She threw a complete game for a total of 113 pitches, struck out four batters, gave up one walk and three earned runs. 

SU exhausted four of Catawba’s pitchers in the first game alone. The Indian pitching staff only recorded three strikeouts and gave up 11 hits. 

The Raiders got on board first in the second match on Saturday as well. In the first inning, junior Brie Wilmot hit a three-run home run. Sabocsik and Cimino scored after both reached base on walks. 

Catawba cut the lead in the bottom half of the first inning when one of their runners scored on a sacrifice fly. 

Two innings later, the Raiders added two more runs to the scoreboard. Sabocsik homered to center field, and junior Emily Lafferty scored off an RBI double from freshman Leah Schwalm. Lafferty pinch ran for Wilmot, who singled up the middle. 

The third inning was also productive for Catawba, as they scored three runs and cut the lead to one. After a couple of successful singles to put two runners on base, Catawba hit a three-run homer of their own. 

In the bottom of the fourth. Catawba tied it up at 5-5 after hitting a sacrifice fly. The even score did not last long because the Raiders reclaimed the lead in the top of the fifth. 

In the seventh, the Raiders added three more runs with two home runs. A solo shot to right field from Sabocsik gave SU a two-run lead. Then Wilmot singled, and Bauman hit a home run to ensure the 9-5 win. 

Catawba pitching let the Raiders have 11 hits again in Game 2. Raider freshman Mya Parkinson earned the win on the mound. 

On Sunday, SU scored more than double Wingate’s runs during its first match up and recorded 10 more hits. The Raiders posted 13 runs on 19 hits opposed to the Bulldogs who posted six runs on nine hits. 

The game started off with back-and-forth action between the two teams. Shippensburg earned a run in the top of the first, but WU answered with three runs in the bottom half of the inning. 

In the second, SU added another run and WU added two. 

The Raiders started to trail ahead in the fourth with two runs on back-to-back solo homers. First was Cimino to center field, then Sabocsik followed with one of her own. 

Wingate tallied its last run in the bottom of the fifth inning, but the Raider offense kept crushing the ball. SU added five runs in the sixth inning and two more insurance runs in the seventh. 

Hayward recorded her second win of the season giving up five earned runs, striking out six batters and throwing 115 pitches total. 

During the last game of the weekend, the Raiders suffered their first loss. They fell to the Bulldogs, 8-2. 

Wingate held Shippensburg off until the top of the sixth inning. With two outs, Schwalm doubled to right center. Then, Ehrlacher batted a home run to center field for the team’s ninth of the weekend. 

SU’s softball team hosts IUP for its home opener on Friday for a two-game series at Robb Field starting at 1 p.m. On Saturday, the Raiders will host Pace for two games starting at noon.

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