RIO GRANDE, Ohio – Softball earned a split on the road with rival Rio Grande Saturday afternoon as the Bears (8-6, 2-4 MSC) took a 6-2 win in the opening game, before the RedStorm (9-6, 4-4 MSC) used a walk-off home run in the eighth inning of game two to claim a 12-10 victory.
Shawnee State jumped on the board early Saturday with three runs in the top of the first inning. Walks to Kelsey Jenkins (JR, Wheelersburg, Ohio) and Abbey Barrett (SR, Franklin Furnace, Ohio) with a single from Kirsti Yates (SR, Chillicothe, Ohio) in between put the Bears in business right away. Hannah Dittoe (SO, Pickerington, Ohio) singled home the first run of the game, while a walk to Tara Prater (SR, Hilliard, Ohio) forced in the second run. After cutting down a run at the plate the previous at-bat, an RBI groundout from Tara Duncan (FR, Lancaster, Ohio) made it 3-0 after the top of the first.
The RedStorm answered with two runs of their own in the bottom half. A single and an error put runners on the corners with one out. Rio Grande scored its first run on a wild pitch, while a single cut the Shawnee State lead to a single run, 3-2, after just one inning.
After the quick offensive start to the game, both starting pitchers would begin to find their grove in the second inning. Allie Chapman (JR, Chesapeake, Ohio) set the RedStorm down in order in the second and fourth innings, while allowing just a single in the third and a walk in the fifth. The Bears would go down in order just once during those same four innings, but could not extend their lead until the sixth inning.
Heidi Hall (FR, Greenwich, Ohio) singled to start that rally, while Chapman helped her cause by bunting her into scoring position. Jenkins then walked, while Yates drove in the first run of the sixth with another single. A walk to Dittoe loaded the bases and Prater came through with a two-run single to make it a 6-2 game. Those two RBI gave her three of the team's six runs batted in during the opening game.
From there, Chapman set down the Rio side in order in the sixth and allowed just one base runner in the seventh to pick up the complete game victory. She allowed five hits and one walk over her seven innings of work, while striking out six. Just one of her two runs was earned.
Although you would never guess it from the final score, game two between the two rivals was a 2-1 SSU advantage after the fourth inning. The Bears scored with back-to-back doubles from Dittoe and Foster, while an RBI groundout made it 2-0 in the second. Rio answered with an RBI double in the bottom of the third.
Despite making two outs to start the fifth inning, the Bears would score seven runs in that frame. SSU batted around with those two outs, recording eight hits and a hit by pitch as nine straight runners reached. However, Rio Grande would get all those runs right back and tie the game with eight of their own in the bottom half. The RedStorm got just five hits during that inning, including a three-run home run from Jenna Jones. However, Shawnee State also did not help itself out with four errors in the inning.
The RedStorm took the lead for the first time all day with a two-out RBI double in the bottom of the sixth, but the Bears would force extra innings as Hannah Foster (SO, Portsmouth, Ohio) doubled to start the inning and moved to third on a passed ball. However, two strikeouts later she was still standing on third with the potential game-tying run. Tara Duncan singled her home, scoring the tying run on the two-out RBI hit.
The Bears put runners on the corners with two outs in the top of the eighth but a strike out would end that threat. In the bottom half of the eighth, Shawnee State put two outs in the book on pop fouls. However, Kim Rollins delivered a walk-off home run to right field on the first pitch she saw to give the RedStorm a 12-10 victory.
Softball will now gear up for three straight home doubleheaders. The Bears will be at Doc Singleton Park tomorrow against (RV) Davenport. That game will get underway one hour earlier than originally scheduled with first pitch set for noon. Campbellsville and St. Catharine will then come to town in more MSC action on Monday and Tuesday.
