Lebanon, Tenn. – Shawnee State softball earned a pair of wins on Friday afternoon, defeating Cumberland (Tenn.) 7-5 in game one and 8-5 in game two.
Shawnee State would open the scoring in game one with four runs in the third inning. Kayla Koch (JR/Lucasville, Ohio) would drive in Megan Shupert (SO/West Portsmouth, Ohio) with a double, also moving Kaitlyn Gleich to third. Tara Duncan (SR/Lancaster, Ohio) would then single in Gleich and move Koch to third. Mackenzie Riley (SO/Proctorville, Ohio) would then hit a grounder to third, reaching on an infield single and advancing to second on a wild throw, with both Koch and Duncan scoring on the play.
After Cumberland would get three runs back in the bottom half of the third, Shawnee State would keep the pressure on with runs in the fourth, fifth and sixth. Gleich would hit a solo home run in the top of the fourth to make the score 5-3. After another Phoenix run, Katie Wolsefer (FR/Franklin, Ohio) would drive in Koch with a double to make the score 6-4. Another Phoenix run would cut the deficit to one again, but Marisa Brown (SO/Liberty Township, Ohio) would single in Shupert to give Shawnee State the 7-5 margin of victory.
Brooke Blevins (FR/Frankfort, Ohio) would go the distance for Shawnee State, allowing five runs on 12 hits and striking out four to get the win. Kaitlin Kralj allowed six runs on eight hits in five innings to take the loss.
The Bears would break the bats out in game two as well. Haley Rawlins (FR/South Point, Ohio) would drive in Tara Duncan in the top of the second to give Shawnee State the lead, and Gleich would hit a two-run single to make the score 3-0. After Cumberland got a run back in the bottom of the second, Shawnee State's Kayla Koch and Miranda Melvin (SR/Oak Hill, Ohio) would hit home runs in the third and fifth, with Melvin's being a two-run shot, to extend the lead back out to 6-1.
Cumberland would again respond with two in the bottom half of the inning, but Shawnee State would grab two more runs in the top of the sixth. Marisa Brown would drive in Ashtyn Saunders (FR/Lancaster, Ohio) with a single, and pinch runner Madi Phillips (SO/Portsmouth, Ohio) would score on a double by Tara Duncan, combined with an error by the right fielder.
McKenzie Whittaker (SO/McDermott, Ohio) would allow three runs on nine hits in five innings to earn the game two win. Alexa Snyder allowed three runs on three hits in two innings pitched to take the loss.
The wins move Shawnee State's record to 19-16 on the season and 10-12 in the Mid-South Conference. Cumberland are now 15-29-1 overall and are 2-20 in the league.
Shawnee State and Cumberland will conclude their four game series tomorrow afternoon with a doubleheader. First pitch of game one is set for 1:00pm Eastern time.
