WILLIAMSBURG, Ky. – Softball used a strong outing in the circle by Allie Chapman (JR/Chesapeake, Ohio) in the opening game and an offensive explosion in the second game to sweep the University of the Cumberlands on the road Monday. The Bears (15-10, 7-7 MSC) took first game by a 3-0 final before a 9-1 win in five innings over the Patriots (8-17, 5-7 MSC) to close out the evening.
Chapman started the opening game by retiring the first 11 batters that she faced in the contest. By the time a two-out double put the first Patriots hitter on base in the game in the bottom of the fourth, the Bears had already staked their starter to a 3-0 lead.
Shawnee State got its first two runs of the game in the second inning. Kirsti Yates (SR/Chillicothe, Ohio) led off that frame with a walk and stole second to put herself in scoring position. Holly Brabson (SR/Piketon, Ohio) then doubled home Yates and came around to score on an error during Tara Duncan (FR/Lancaster, Ohio)'s at-bat to make the score 2-0. The Bears added another run in the top of the third when Abbey Barrett (SR/Franklin Furnace, Ohio) blasted a solo home run over the centerfield fence. Barrett's home run was at the time her team-leading sixth of the season.
That run support would be more than enough for Chapman as she allowed just a pair of two-out hits in the fourth and fifth innings and set down the side in succession in the sixth as she retired 18 of the first 20 batters that she faced on the afternoon.
Chapman allowed two singles in the seventh but polished off her complete game shutout by allowing just four hits and no walks over her seven innings of work. She also struck out two batters on the afternoon, while recording nine of her outs on ground balls. Her win moves her to 8-6 on the year with two shutouts. The junior now has nine shutouts for her career with the Bears.
In game two, the Bears got on the board first with an RBI single from Kelsey Jenkins (JR/Wheelersburg, Ohio) to score an unearned run, while the Patriots answered with a run of their own in the bottom half of that inning. The Bears would get the lead back in their next at-bats. Yates started the inning with an infield single. Dittoe then blasted her sixth home run of the season with one out in the third to match Barrett for the team lead in long balls.
Holding a 3-1 lead going into the fourth inning, Shawnee State added five more runs in that inning to blow the game open. Tara Prater (SR/Hilliard, Ohio) doubled to start the inning, while a single from Jenkins put two runners on base. A Patriots' error would score the first run with one out, while an RBI groundout from Dittoe pushed the second run across. With two outs, Brabson delivered the big blow in the inning with a 3-run home run to make the score 8-1. Brabson's home run was the second of her season and eighth of her SSU career.
The Bears would go up by eight runs with an RBI single from Yates in the top of the fifth to put the run-rule into effect.
Miranda Pauley (FR/Portsmouth, Ohio) pitched a complete game to pick up her seventh win of the year as she improved to 7-2 in her freshman campaign. She allowed just five hits and the one run in the second inning. She did not walk a batter and struck out two in her seventh complete game of the season.
Softball now returns home Tuesday for the first of four straight doubleheaders that will be played at Boone Coleman Field. Those four doubleheaders will all take place within the next seven days. Up first will be a meeting with No. 23 Campbellsville on Tuesday. That doubleheader will get underway at 1 p.m.
