Portsmouth, Ohio – Shawnee State softball split a doubleheader on Thursday evening, winning game one against Cumberland (Tenn.) 7-6, but falling in game two 9-3.
The Phoenix would grab a big lead in the top of the first inning of game one. Tyra Graham would lead off the inning with a walk, and would reach second on a fielder's choice form Imani Torregano when Michal Cunningham (SO/Wheelersburg, Ohio)'s throw sailed wide of the target. Cumberland would load the bases when Kayley Caplinger reached safely on a bunt, as Mo Wolansky dropped Kayla Koch (SR/Lucasville, Ohio)'s throw to first. With the bases loaded, Brigid Antonelli would walk to drive in Graham. Tawnee Hegre then singled up the middle, driving in Torregano and Caplinger to give CU a 3-0 lead. Courtney Miles would follow with a single to re-load the bases, and Kayala Hoppenjans would ground into a fielder's choice to score Antonelli, giving Cumberland a 4-0 lead. Shelby Phelps would ground out to SSU pitcher McKenzie Whittaker (JR/McDermott, Ohio) to drive in Hegre to wrap up the scoring. Caplinger would then homer in the top of the second inning to give Cumberland a 6-0 lead on Shawnee State going into the bottom of the second.
The Bears would begin their comeback with a pair of runs in the bottom of the third inning. After Haley Rawlins (SO/South Point, Ohio) popped out, Michal Cunningham would double to deep right-center. Katlyn Gleich (JR/Grove City, Ohio) would then follow with a two-run home run, cutting the Cumberland lead to 6-2 after three innings.
Shawnee State would follow that with three more runs in the bottom of the fifth. Cunningham would lead off the inning with a double, and advanced to third on Gleich's hard-hit grounder that deflected off Caplinger's foot in the pitcher's circle. After Gleich stole second, Marisa Brown (JR/Liberty Township, Ohio) would hit a sacrifice fly to right field, scoring Cunningham, moving Gleich over to third and cutting the Cumberland lead to 6-3. Kayla Koch then lifted a sacrifice fly to center, scoring Gleich. With two outs, Stacy Trenholm (FR/Lancaster, Ohio) would single to center, then steal second base during Tatum Wise's at-bat. Wise would single to center, driving in Trenholm to wrap up the scoring in the fifth with Shawnee State trailing Cumberland 6-5.
After SSU held Cumberland scoreless in the top of the sixth, the Bears would get heroics to take their first lead of the game in the bottom of the sixth. Cunningham would walk to lead off the inning, and reach second on a bunt by Gleich. The bunt would prove inconsequential, however, as Marisa Brown would hit a towering two-run home run to left-center field, giving Shawnee State a 7-6 lead. The score would stand at 7-6, as Tatum Wise would enter to close out the game, sitting down Cumberland in the seventh.
McKenzie Whittaker would pick up the win, allowing six runs in six innings of work while striking out two. Cumberland reliever Alexa Snyder took the loss, allowing two runs on one hit in one inning of work. Tatum Wise would get the save for SSU by throwing a scoreless seventh inning.
Game two would start out better for Shawnee State, as the Bears would take an early lead in the bottom of the second inning. Kayla Koch would hit the first pitch of the inning to left-center, with the ball bouncing off the top of the fence and over to give SSU a 1-0 lead.
Cumberland would rally to tie the game in the top of the fourth. Antonelli would lead of the inning with a hit by pitch, and reach second on a bunt by Hoppenjans. Antonelli would then score on a double by Courtney Miles, tying the game at 1-0.
Shawnee State would re-take their lead in the bottom of the fourth. Marisa Brown would single to left to lead off the inning, being replaced by pinch runner Victoria Bevington (SO/London, Ohio). Kayla Koch would then smoke a ball to left field for a single, and the ball would be misplayed by Shelby Phelps, allowing Bevington to get to third; Bevington would then score when Phelps' throw on the play went wild, while Koch advanced to third base on the play. Koch would then score when Paola Del Valle mishandled a throw from right fielder Imani Torregano, giving SSU a 3-1 lead after four innings.
Cumberland would rally to take the lead in the top of the fifth inning. With one out, Tyra Graham doubled to right-center, and advanced to third on a groundout from Torregano. Caplinger would then reach on an error by Haley Rawlins, allowing Graham to score to cut the lead to 3-2. Antonelli would walk to put two on, and Hoppenjans would reach on a throwing error by Rawlins to load the bases with two outs. Miles and Del Valle would get back-to-back walks, driving in the tying and go-ahead runs to give Cumberland a 4-3 lead.
Another two-out run would extend the Cumberland lead in the sixth. Graham would single again with one out, and would advance to second on a groundout from Torregano. Caplinger would then single up the middle to score Graham, giving Cumberland a 5-3 lead.
The Phoenix would blow the game open with four runs in the seventh. Del Valle would draw a one-out walk to reach base first, then reach second on Taylor Woodring's single to shallow left field. Graham would then hit a pop-up toward shortstop, but Rawlins would drop the pop fly, allowing Del Valle to score and the other runners to reach safely. Graham would take second on defensive indifference, and a soft grounder from Torregano would result in a single and an RBI as Woodring scored. Torregano would then take second on indifference, and Caplinger would drive both Graham and Torregano with a single to extend Cumberland's lead to the final 9-3 margin.
Morgan Arndt would get the win for Cumberland, allowing three runs on six hits in seven innings of work, with only one of the runs being earned. Tatum Wise took the loss, allowing nine runs on 10 hits in seven innings of work, with only two of the nine runs allowed being earned.
The split moves Shawnee State to 13-5 on the season, and the Bears begin Mid-South Conference play 1-1. Cumberland moves to 21-4, and also begin league play 1-1.
Shawnee State softball returns to Boone Coleman Field on Friday morning when they play games three and four of the four-game series against Cumberland. First pitch of game one of tomorrow's doubleheader is set for 11:00am.
