Cocoa Beach, Fla. – Shawnee State softball got their season started with a pair of wins on Monday, defeating St. Mary-of-the-Woods (Ill.) 7-4, and downing Penn State-Hazleton 6-0 to start the Cocoa Beach Spring Training Tournament.

The Bears would score five runs in the second inning in game one, and would add a run in the sixth inning to take a 6-0 lead on St. Mary-of-the-Woods. Shawnee State would score their seventh run in the fifth inning before the Pomeroys would score two runs in the sixth inning, and two more in the seventh off of SSU starter Brooke Blevins (FR/Frankfort, Ohio). Blevins would stop the bleeding and hold on for the complete game win.

McKenzie Whittaker (SO/McDermott, Ohio) and Miranda Pauley (SR/Portsmouth, Ohio) would combine to shut out Penn State-Hazleton in game two. Whittaker would only allow two hits and two walks over six innings, and a perfect seventh from Pauley would close out the game. Victoria Bevington (FR/London, Ohio) and Marisa Brown (SO/Liberty Township, Ohio) each had two RBIs to pace the Bears' offense, as Shawnee State would score six runs in the sixth inning to seal the game.

With the wins, Shawnee State starts the year with a 2-0 record. St. Mary-of-the-Woods fell to 3-1, and Penn State-Hazleton are now 1-3.

Shawnee State continues the Cocoa Beach Spring Training Tournament on Tuesday afternoon with games against Bloomfield College (NJ) and Morrisville State (NY). First pitch in game one is scheduled for 1:00pm, with game two following at 3:30pm.