In Kristen Bradshaw's first two outings as the head softball coach at Shawnee State, the Shawnee State softball program dominated the proceedings in both contests against the Asbury Eagles' softball program, using a complete-game three-hitter from Cassie Berry, a no-hitter from Emma Wargel and 23 hits offensively over both games to collect 4-0 and 12-0 victories over Asbury Wednesday evening in a pair of softball contests that were held at Asbury University in Wilmore, Ky. Wednesday evening.

Game 1

Throughout the day, Shawnee State's pitching and defense proved to be splendid -- as the Bears, in addition to getting the stellar pitching performances from Berry and Wargel -- didn't commit a single error defensively in a combined 28 defensive chances between the two games.

Cassie Berry got the going off right, striking out five batters and walking just two Asbury hitters in her seven innings of work to head up an outing where the Eagles never seriously threatened.

Offensively, Shawnee State, after scoring on an error in the third frame to take a 1-0 cushion, got a one-out double from Amariah Hoerner, followed by an RBI double by Sierra Dunnagan to collect a 2-0 lead through four frames of action.

The Bears then added in two more insurance runs in the top half of the seventh to seal the victory in the first contest, as Shawnee State manufactured a pair of runs. Bianca Belo-Diaz started the top of the seventh frame with a double to center field and Allison Tom singled to move Belo-Diaz to third, eventually scoring on a sacrifice fly RBI from Brittani Wolfenbarker. Tom, who stole second and advanced to third on a groundout, then used her speed to score on a two-out wild pitch, setting the final tally.

Game 2

In the final contest between SSU and Asbury, the Bears jumped all over the Eagles from the opening pitch.

Walks by Allison Tom and Lauren Spears and a single by Cassie Berry allowed Sierra Dunnagan to plate a run with a sacrifice fly to give Shawnee State a 1-0 advantage after the opening inning of play, and in the second frame, the Bears added three more tallies on a pair of wild pitches and an RBI double by Lauren Spears that scored Allison Tom yet again, pushing the lead to a 4-0 count after two innings of action.

Then, following an RBI double to left field by Brittani Wolfenbarker to make the SSU lead a 5-0 cushion after three innings complete, the Bears jumped on the Eagles again with a four-run fourth inning en route to batting around. Lauren Spears' solo homer to lead off the frame, and back-to-back run-producing singles by Bianca Belo-Diaz and Allison Tom pushed the Shawnee State lead to an insurmountable 9-0 cushion through four innings of work.

The fifth, and ultimately final, inning of play saw Lauren Spears and Bianca Belo-Diaz again make a major dent in the scoreboard as Spears' leadoff double allowed the Ashland, Ky. native to eventually score on a wild pitch, while Belo-Diaz notched a two-out RBI single to allow the pair to combine for a 7-for-7 outing in the contest. Haley Hawes' two-out RBI single down the left field line ultimately capped the scoring.

Emma Wargel, an experienced and talented pitching arm like Cassie Berry before her, had no issues, as outside of a hit batter, Wargel threw flawlessly, posting a complete game no-hitter in just 56 pitches with four strikeouts to boot.

Additional

The offensive standouts for the day for Shawnee State were:

• Bianca Belo-Diaz (5-for-7, double, two RBI, four runs)
• Lauren Spears (4-for-7, home run, walk, two doubles, two RBI, three runs scored)
• Allison Tom (3-for-6, two RBI, three runs scored)
• Sierra Dunnagan (3-for-6, double, RBI, run scored)
• Brittani Wolfenbarker (3-for-5, two RBI)
• Cassie Berry (3-for-8, run scored)

With today's shutouts, Shawnee State collected its first back-to-back shutouts across a day's worth of games since March 1, 2022. It's only the fourth time since the day of March 7, 2018 that the feat has been accomplished by the Bears.

Shawnee State will return to action Feb. 29 through March 2 when the Bears play six games in three days as part of the Fastpitch Spring Classic in North Myrtle Beach, S.C.

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