The softball program at Shawnee State put together an outstanding Friday at the Fastpitch Dreams Spring Classic, with the Bears putting up a four-run sixth inning to win their opener against NCAA Division II Chestnut Hill (Pa.), a nine-run first inning in its mercy-rule victory over NCAA Division III Rivier (N.H.), and a four-run top of the seventh to cap off the successful day with an 8-6 come-from-behind win over NCAA Division II Barton (N.C.) to move to 4-1 on the year.
Shawnee State's hitting, in all three games, stood out in a big way as the Bears combined for 35 hits between the three affairs to obtain an average of 11.75 hits per contest.
Game 1 (Shawnee State 7, Chestnut Hill, Pa. 3)
Against NCAA Division II Chestnut Hill, Shawnee State obtained two excellent pitching performances from Scioto County standouts Hannah Oliver (Clay) and Madison Sifford (Minford) to stay right in the thick of the battle all game long. The duo combined to throw all seven innings in the contest, giving up just eight hits while striking out five batters as a whole in the affair.
Offensively, Shawnee State used back-to-back singles by Haley Rawlins and Andrea Little with one away to set up a one-out RBI base knock by Ashtyn Saunders in the second inning to take an early 1-0 advantage, and added on to the lead in the fourth frame as a double by Little was followed by a second double -- one of the RBI variety -- from Ashton Rankin in the fourth.
Chestnut Hill posted two runs of its own in the top half of the fifth to tie the score, but a crucial leadoff single by Gracie Keplinger allowed Mo Wolansky to sacrifice Keplinger in to give Shawnee State a 3-2 lead. The Bears put the game away in the sixth as Shawnee State scored four runs in the frame, with Little's leadoff double getting things going again. An error, along with a two-RBI single from Jaymee Sommer and a RBI base knock from Sunetrius Armstrong, helped to close out the affair in favor of Shawnee State by a 7-3 margin.
Game 2 (Shawnee State 11, Rivier, N.H. 3/Final in 5)
Shawnee State wasted no time getting its offense cranking in the second contest against Rivier (N.H.), blasting the NCAA Division III, New Hampshire-based institution in an 11-3 mercy-rule victory.
The Bears scored nine of those 11 tallies in the first frame alone as two singles by Saunders, one single apiece by Rawlins, Kylie Sims, and Kalle Coleman, along with a two-RBI double from Kylie Ray out of the nine-hole and a second two-RBI double by Jaymee Sommer, helped to break the game open early.
Rawlins, who had an outstanding performance by going 3-for-3 with four RBI and two runs scored, put the finishing touches on Shawnee State's offensive barrage by blasting a two-run homer in the fourth inning of work to cap off a contest where SSU scored its 11 runs on 10 base hits.
Saunders (2-for-3, two stolen bases, two runs scored) made it a multi-hit day for both of Shawnee State's seniors as the pair stood out early and often in Game 2.
From a pitching standpoint, Aubrey Willett fired a complete game eight-hitter while allowing just one earned run in the process. She also struck out three batters without issuing a free pass.
Game 3 (Shawnee State 8, Barton, N.C. 6)
After posting a three-run third inning against Barton on singles by Saunders, Coleman, and Keplinger, along with a two-RBI double from Armstrong to take an early 3-0 lead, SSU only scored one run from the fourth through sixth frames -- that coming on an error that scored Armstrong -- as Barton rallied to take a 6-4 advantage heading into the game's final frame.
However, Shawnee State didn't relent.
In the top of the seventh, a leadoff double to right center field by Keplinger was forced by back-to-back singles from Armstrong and Wolansky, the latter of a run-producing variety, that cut the lead to a 6-5 margin with nobody gone in the frame.
Following a sacrifice bunt by Rawlins, Little, once more, came up huge with a single of her own to tie the game, and following Little's base knock, Saunders fittingly capped the scoring off by blasting a two-RBI double into the outfield to score Wolansky and Little to give Shawnee State the lead, 8-6 on a clutch two-out double.
Oliver, who came on to pitch in the seventh inning for Sifford -- who threw the first six frames -- picked up the winning decision by striking out a pair of batters and obtaining a 5-3 grounder to seal a three-game sweep of Shawnee State's opposition.
During the contest, Saunders (3-for-5, two stolen bases, two RBI, double, run scored), Keplinger (2-for-4, double, RBI, run scored), Armstrong (3-for-4, double, two RBI, two runs scored), and Little (2-for-4, double, RBI, run scored) all enjoyed multi-hit outings.
Saunders stealing and swiping/Additional
With her five steals on Friday, Saunders moved into a tie with Ericka Leighty and Keri Bennett for third-place on the all-time list in stolen bases in school history. The senior third baseman can break the school record in North Myrtle Beach with another five-steal day on Saturday, as she only needs four steals to pass Shawnee State's Abbey Barrett -- 45 steals -- for the school record.
Shawnee State gets back at it Saturday with two contests against Midway (Ky.) at 9:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. and a second bout against Barton at 11:30 a.m. Saturday.
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