CAMPBELLSVILLE, Ky. – Softball was swept on the road Saturday at Campbellsville in the first of what will be back-to-back doubleheaders away from Boone Coleman Field this weekend. The Bears (19-14, 11-11 MSC) dropped a 4-0 game to start the day before a 9-4 loss in the second game after sweeping its home doubleheader with the Tigers (29-15, 16-10 MSC) earlier this season.
In the opening game, it was a pitcher's duel from the start as Allie Chapman (JR/Chesapeake, Ohio) found herself matched up against Victoria Decker. Campbellsville switched its pitching rotation for this series. Chapman allowed just two runs in seven innings the first time against Campbellsville, while Decker allowed four runs (one earned) in her loss during the Bears' game two victory at Boone Coleman Field.
Shawnee State had runners in scoring position during the third, fourth and fifth innings but just could not come up with that key base hit in game one. The Bears' first runner of the game to reach scoring position came after back-to-back two-out singles from Kelsey Jenkins (JR/Wheelersburg, Ohio) and Kirsti Yates (SR/Chillicothe, Ohio) before an infield pop-up stranded those hits. In the fourth, Abbey Barrett (SR/Franklin Furnace, Ohio) singled to start the inning and moved to second on a one-out single from Tara Duncan (FR/Lancaster, Ohio). However, a strike out and grounder to third stranded those two runners. In the fifth, Yates doubled with two down but was again stranded.
Chapman was pretty much dominant over the first five innings. She started the game by retiring 15 of the first 18 batters that she faced. Two of those three batters that she did not retire in that span reached on fielding errors, while the only hit in the first five innings for Campbellsville came on a two-out single to left in the fourth.
Campbellsville would finally break the 0-0 deadlock in the sixth. Three straight singles loaded the bases in the sixth, while a double made it four straight hits for the Tigers. That extra-base hit also gave the hosts a 2-0 lead. A sacrifice fly would put one away in the inning, but also made it 3-0, while a two-out single rounded out the Tigers' big inning. The Bears were then retired in order in the seventh.
Decker pitched a complete game to pick up the victory as went seven innings and allowed just six hits. She did not walk a batter and struck out five. Chapman fell to 11-7 on the year as she also allowed six hits, while striking out three, during her time in the circle.
After a pitcher's showdown to start the day, the Tigers staked themselves to an 8-0 advantage by scoring in each of the first three innings of game two. The Bears looked to be out of the first inning with just one run in, but a passed ball strikeout allowed two more runs to scamper home for the Tigers in their first at-bats of game two. A three-run home run by Sara Paragon would then put the Bears in a 6-0 hole after two innings before two more Campbellsville runs in the third made it 8-0 less than halfway through the game.
After being shut down for 10 straight innings, Shawnee State got its first run of the day in the fourth. Holly Brabson (SR/Piketon, Ohio) singled to start off that inning. She would find herself standing at second with two outs after a wild pitch, but a two-out double from Duncan scored her to make it 8-1.
The Bears would call on Tara Prater (SR/Hilliard, Ohio) to pitch the final three innings of the game. She did not allow any runs in her first two innings of work. The Bears would inch closer in the sixth with a three-run inning. Yates led off the frame with a single. She then came around to score on a two-run home run from Brabson. Brabson's home run was the third of her senior season and ninth of her SSU career. Hannah Dittoe (SO/Pickerington, Ohio) would then add a solo home run later in the frame. Her seventh home run of the season was also her 17th career home run.
However, those two long balls would also be the last time Shawnee State scored on Saturday as Campbellsville tacked on a run in the sixth to take the second game by a 9-4 final. Taylor Wroe allowed just one hit in four innings of work, while striking out seven to pick up her 12th win of the year for the Tigers before giving way to the bullpen.
Softball will look to bounce back tomorrow at St. Catharine with a doubleheader that will get underway at noon. The Bears swept the Patriots on their home field earlier this season.
