The Shepherd University softball team kicked off their 2014 campaign on Saturday, Feb. 22 at the annual Shaw University Tournament in Raleigh, N.C. The tournament was scheduled to begin on Friday. However, due to the occurrence of severe thunderstorms in the area, it was postponed by one day. The team went 1–1 when they participated in this event during the 2012–2013 season.
In their first game of the season, the Rams struggled to produce any offense as they dropped a 3–0 decision to LeMoyne. Dolphins pitcher Sarah Harrison threw a near perfect game and only allowed Shepherd two hits throughout the entire game. Allison Reynolds went two-for-three at the plate, in large part due to the pair of home runs she hit. Freshman infielder Jennifer Schofield and freshman outfielder and pitcher Shannon Lyons were the only two Shepherd players to have any success at the plate in this game with each recording one hit a piece.
In their second game of the day, the Rams rebounded from their loss to LeMoyne by posting a 5–3 win over North Greenville. They took an early lead in the first inning when freshman Alexandra Witt belted a double and then reached third base when sophomore third baseman Kass Taylor managed to reach on an infield error. Just moments later, junior first baseman Savannah Snyder followed that up with a two-run double.
In the second inning, Shepherd increased their lead when Schofield singled and then eventually scored off a single by junior outfielder Shanan Plunkett. North Greenville began to rally from the early deficit in the second inning by plating three runs.
However, the Ram’s took the lead for good in the fourth inning courtesy of a solo home run by Lyons. In the fifth, Taylor led off with a double and scored off a single from junior outfielder Tayler Schaefer to give her team an insurance run and secure Shepherd’s first victory of the season. Plunkett and Schaefer led the team with two hits each while freshman pitcher Tara Hanson picked up her first collegiate victory in relief of Lyons .
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