PIKEVILLE, Ky. -- Shawnee State grabbed a pair of wins against the University of Pikeville softball team on Wednesday, winning game one 5-2 and the nightcap 4-1 at Paul Butcher Field.

The Mid-South Conference sweep moves SSU to 12-9 overall and an even 6-6 in league play, while UPIKE drops to 9-21 overall and 1-11 in the MSC.

Shawnee State 5, UPIKE 2

Led by Ashton Saunders going 3 for 5 and driving in a pair of runs, Shawnee State topped UPIKE 5-2 after a slow start. Lee Griffin and Jordan Gentry each tallied two hits to lead Pikeville.

It was scoreless through three innings before SSU struck first on a double steal, which started a spree of three straight frames with one run.

UPIKE got on the board in the sixth inning on a sacrifice fly by Kitty Raymond to get within two at 3-1, but Shawnee answered right back with a leadoff home run  by Kayla Koch and squeeze bunt  by Saunders to go back up 5-1 in the top of the seventh.

The Bears opened the bottom of the seventh with three straight hits, including a double by Lindsay Floyd, to get one run back on Ashley Goines' RBI single, but the next two batters flew out and Hannah Absher struck out to bring the game to a close.

Brooke Blevins (6-6) grabbed the complete-game win, allowing two runs on seven hits with five strikeouts. Hannah Skaggs (1-3) received the loss after scattering nine hits for five runs with seven batters struck out in seven innings.

Shawnee State 3, UPIKE 1

Despite leading 1-0 after the first inning, Pikeville failed to score again during the game as SSU tallied three runs in the third to take the lead for good. Ashley Goines went 2 for 3 with a triple, but the Bears didn't get much more at the plate.

UPIKE started off game two strong as Gentry drew a leadoff walk, advanced to second on a single and then took third on a groundout. Before the final out could be recorded, SSU starter McKenzie Whittaker threw a wild pitch and Gentry hustled home.

The 1-0 lead lasted through one inning, but Shawnee put together three runs on two hits and two errors in the third. The first two runs scored after a wild throw from the pitcher's circle to first with the last run scoring on Tara Duncan's single to left field.

Shawnee State added to its lead with a two-out, RBI single from Miranda Melvin in the sixth to make it 4-1 as it continued to keep the Pikeville bats quiet since trailing briefly in the first inning.

Whitaker improved to 6-3 with the win, allowing just the one run on four hits with two strikeouts in seven innings. Hannah Thacker fell to 3-6 with the loss after giving up four runs on eight hits with no strikeouts.

-UPIKE-