After losing three out of their four games last weekend at the Salem Tournament, the Shepherd University team bounced back at home by sweeping Salem International University in doubleheader action on March 22nd.
The team was scheduled to face California University of Pennsylvania at the Salem Tournament on March 17th but due to inclement weather, the contest was postponed and has yet to be rescheduled.
When they returned to the field on Friday, The Ram’s claimed a 9-1 win in the first game and in the night-cap, they added a 7-3 victory to improve their overall record to 9-13. It is no secret that the Rams have struggled at points throughout this season however in Friday’s contests against Salem they showed their record does not reflect the immense talent and potential found throughout the team.
In the day’s first game, Salem posted an early 1-0 lead in the first inning after Haley Wilson singled and later came home to score on a single by Katie Mangold. The Ram’s quickly answered back by scoring three runs in the same inning.
They took a 3-1 lead after an RBI-double to left field by freshman third baseman Kass Taylor and a two-run double from sophomore outfielder Shanan Plunkett. In the second inning, Plunkett tripled and eventually scored again on a single from junior shortstop Jess Mason which gave the Ram’s a 4-1 lead.
In only the third inning, Shepherd took an impressive 8-1 lead and began to put any chance of a win out of reach for Salem. Sophomore second baseman Elisa Orlandi batted in a two-run double while Mason added an RBI-triple and Plunkett helped drive in a run on a groundout.
In the fifth, Savannah Snyder singled to left field which brought home Mason and completed the scoring for the game. Freshman pitcher Shannon Lyons claimed the victory and improved to 4-3 on the year after five innings pitched, 4 strikeouts, and only two runs allowed.
Shepherd continued to play exceptional softball in the second game on Friday as they claimed another decisive victory over Salem by the score of 7-3.
In the bottom of the first inning junior catcher Carly Schmidt whacked a two-run homer over the fence and sophomore outfielder Tayler Schaefer and Savannah Snyder each added RBI-doubles to give the Ram’s an early 4-0 lead. Hayley Wilson hit a home run and plated two runs in the third inning to put Salem on the score board and cut the lead to 4-2.
Nevertheless, the Ram’s answered back almost immediately when Taylor and Schaefer each drove in a run in the fourth inning and in the fifth inning, senior outfielder Bianca Biondillo belted a solo homerun out of the park to increase her team’s lead to 7-2.
The Tigers plated one run in the sixth inning but they would come no closer to taking the lead. Ram’s senior pitcher Tiffany Biggs, who went 7 innings pitched with 6 strikeouts and 9 hits allowed, earned the victory to improve to 5-8 on the year.