The softball program at Shawnee State quickly rebounded from a doubleheader setback against Saint Mary-of-the-Woods Friday with two strong performances Saturday, claiming 5-1 and 8-0 victories over Indiana University-Purdue University-Columbus Saturday afternoon to move to 12-2 overall and 6-2 overall in River States Conference competition.

Shawnee State continued to see the softball well at the plate, nabbing 13 additional hits between the two contests including nine hits in Game 2. Inside the circle, Shawnee State pitchers Cassie Berry and Genavie Espinoza (Game 1) and Amariah Hoerner (Game 2) combined to allow just four hits together between both contests.

Game 1 -- Shawnee State 5, IUPUC 1

Shawnee State immediately began Game 1 by striking with two-out magic, as after an error, a Sierra Dunnagan single was followed by an RBI base knock by Mackenzie Hale that brought in Berry and gave the Bears a 1-0 advantage after an inning of work.

With Cassie Berry continuing to roll along en route to throwing a two-hitter in her six innings on the bump, the Bears faced no trouble from there -- and simply added on as a one-out homer in the top half of the fourth frame by Amariah Hoerner was followed by three additional runs in the sixth frame to seal the deal, with Brittani Wolfenbarker driving in a pair of SSU baserunners with her two-run RBI double in the top half of the sixth frame of work.

For the contest, Wolfenbarker's two-run double (1-for-3 in all) and Hoerner's solo home run (1-for-3 with a solo home run, RBI, and two runs scored) led the output, while Hale went 1-for-2 with an RBI and a run scored to boot. Dunnagan's 1-for-4 outing capped the output for the Bears.

Game 2 -- Shawnee State 8, IUPUC 0 (F/5)

In the second contest, it took Shawnee State even less time to strike gold -- fueled by the two-way efforts of Amariah Hoerner.

Prior to Hoerner reaching the plate in the opening inning of action, the Bears struck -- as Shawnee State got a leadoff single from Jenna Christopher and a walk by Lauren Spears, with a two-out error scoring Spears to give SSU a 1-0 lead with two gone in the top half of the opening frame.

Hoerner, who threw a no-hitter with a pair of strikeouts in her four innings inside the circle, then came to the plate and unloaded the bases on the offensive side of things with a three-run triple that helped Shawnee State take a commanding 4-0 lead after an inning of work.

Christopher, who came back up to the plate with one out in the second inning, singled, stole second, and then scored on Spears' RBI double. Two batters later, Dunnagan launched a softball over the outfield fence -- ultimately putting Shawnee State ahead by a 7-0 margin after two innings of play with her two-run homer.

The Bears capped the scoring in the fourth frame, when after a single by Spears and a hit by pitch, Lexie Lockwood's RBI single scored Spears to push the lead to its final margin.

Six players ultimately recorded hits in the contest, with Christopher (2-for-4, stolen base, run scored), Spears (2-for-2, walk, double, RBI, three runs scored) and Hale (2-for-2, two doubles, run scored) all notching multi-hit efforts. Dunnagan (1-for-3, home run, two RBI, two runs scored), Hoerner (1-for-3, triple, three RBI) and Lockwood (1-for-2, walk, RBI, run scored) all joined the hit parade in Game 2.

Additional

Shawnee State will be back in action Wednesday afternoon against Bluefield (Va.) with a nonconference doubleheader that begins at 1 p.m. Those contests will be livestreamed at https://www.youtube.com/user/BluefieldCollegeRams.

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