WEST PORTSMOUTH, Ohio -- Throughout the past two seasons, the calling card for the Shawnee State softball program has been its ability to rally through adversity.
In rallying as a collective unit, it's clear that the adversity that the program has faced, coupled with the passion that each of the members of the program and its coaching staff has, continues to only make the program a stronger one.
Despite dropping its opening game against Indiana-Columbus by a 5-3 margin, the Bears were able to conclude matters against the Crimson Pride on a high note, giving its five seniors -- Cameryn Davidson, Emma Wargel, Bianca Belo-Diaz, Mackenzie Hale and Genavie Espinoza -- a win to close Senior Day Saturday, with Jenna Christopher also breaking a single-season school record that had stood for 32 years with her 22nd stolen base of 2025 in Shawnee State's 12-4 Game 2 victory over Indiana-Columbus Saturday evening at Doc Singleton Park in West Portsmouth.
Game Summaries
In both contests, Shawnee State continued to put together a strong, collective average at the dish -- as the Bears went 10-for-28 at the plate in Game 1 and 9-for-22 in Game 2 to go 19-for-50 overall and collect a .380 batting average. SSU raised its collective batting average to .332 as a team and now sits 39th nationally in that department.
Jenna Christopher, who tied the single-season school record of 21 stolen bases set by Shawnee State Hall of Fame inductee Tiffany Shanks-Moore back in 1993 against Brescia (Ky.) last week, officially broke the record with her 22nd stolen base of the season in Game 2 after drawing a leadoff walk and swiping second in the third inning of Game 2. Christopher already has 36 stolen bases in her second season at Shawnee State -- and sits just nine career steals away from tying Shawnee State's all-time record of 45, set by Shawnee State softball catcher Abbey Barrett.
As for the five-player senior class, the quintet have led Shawnee State to a 60-27 overall record over the last two seasons. Espinoza and Wargel have been Shawnee State's No. 1 and No. 2 pitchers throughout the 2025 season, Hale and Belo-Diaz have been entrenched in the starting lineup at first and second base, respectively throughout much of their careers, and Davidson has taken on various roles and performed, pitching, playing in the infield and serving as a designated player this season alone.
Game 2 highlights
Shawnee State's discipline at the plate highlighted the Bears' performance in Game 2, as SSU got to Indiana-Columbus' pitching early and often, ultimately forcing the Crimson Pride to throw just shy of 150 pitches in the contest as a pitching staff.
In the second inning, the Bears plated two runs without having to amass a hit, as walks by Mackenzie Hale, Gracey McCullough, Sydney Skiver and Emily Cheatham, along with a hit batter, allowed Shawnee State to grab a 2-0 lead after the second inning of work.
Jenna Christopher's leadoff walk and her single-season record-setting steal of second then followed in the third inning, and after a sacrifice bunt by Cameryn Davidson, Christopher scored on Mackenzie Hale's RBI single as the Bears jumped out to a 3-0 lead after three innings complete.
While Indiana-Columbus rallied for four runs in the top of the fourth inning of play to take a brief 4-3 lead heading into the bottom of the fourth, Shawnee State's plate discipline paid dividends as a leadoff walk by Sydney Skiver and a passed ball was followed by an error on a return throw following a groundball, allowing Skiver to score to tie the score at four apiece after four innings of work.
Over what ultimately ended up being the final two innings of play, Shawnee State finalized the score as a leadoff walk by Hale and a double by Emily Moore were followed by an RBI single by Bianca Belo-Diaz that scored Hale, giving Shawnee State a 5-4 advantage. McCullough then drove in Moore on an RBI groundout, and Skiver, along with Sierra Dunnagan, completed the four-run fifth frame with one RBI double each to push the Shawnee State lead to an 8-4 count.
In the sixth, the Bears concluded matters -- as after a leadoff single by Davidson, back-to-back walks by Moore and Belo-Diaz were followed by a sacrifice fly RBI by McCullough, while a third free pass to Sydney Skiver then allowed Genavie Espinoza to drive Moore around. Dunnagan then came back up to the plate and concluded matters with a two-RBI shot into the right center field gap, scoring Skiver and Belo-Diaz to conclude the mercy rule.
For the contest, Dunnagan (2-for-4, walk, double, three RBI) and Davidson (2-for-3, run scored) led Shawnee State while Belo-Diaz (1-for-1, two walks, RBI, three runs scored), Skiver (1-for-1, double, three walks, two RBI, three runs scored), Moore (1-for-2, double, walk, two runs scored), Hale (1-for-2, two walks, RBI, run scored) and Espinoza (1-for-1, RBI) also reached the hit column in the contest.
Additional
Emily Moore's two-run homer in Game 1, along with an RBI single by Sydney Skiver, led Shawnee State in the opening game of the day. Moore went 1-for-3 with a home run, two RBI and a run scored while Skiver went 2-for-3 with a walk and an RBI in Game 1. Emily Cheatham (3-for-4) and Cameryn Davidson (2-for-3) also posted multi-hit outings in the opener while Mackenzie Hale (1-for-1, two walks, run scored) and Genavie Espinoza (1-for-4) also reached on base hits in the contest, with Espinoza going the full seven-inning distance on the mound, giving up five runs (three earned) while striking out five.
Shawnee State (24-16, 19-11 River States Conference) has locked up the No. 4 seed for the upcoming River States Conference Tournament, which is slated to begin Thursday afternoon. The Bears will conclude the 2025 regular season against Saint Mary-of-the-Woods Sunday morning at 11 a.m. in a doubleheader that will be held at Doc Singleton Park in West Portsmouth.
