PIKEVILLE, Ky. – Shawnee State (Ohio) swept a Mid-South Conference doubleheader against the University of Pikeville softball team on Thursday, winning 5-3 in the opener and 11-0 in five innings in the nightcap at Paul Butcher Field.

The teams play the final two games of the series at 3 p.m. ET on Friday.

GAME ONE – Shawnee State 5, UPIKE 3

Lee Collier and Hannah Absher collected two hits each, but UPIKE (16-12, 0-6 MSC) stranded six runners on base and started scoring too late in the 5-3 loss.

Shawnee had taken a 4-0 lead through the first six innings, scoring one run in the first, second, fifth and sixth frames. The Bears didn't get on the board until the bottom of the sixth when they scored all three of their runs.

Chandler Kelly started UPIKE's scoring with a bunt single to score one, then Megan Claypoole followed that up with a sac fly to right field. The final run scored on Haley Osborne's RBI single.

Now just a 4-3 deficit, Emme Barker came close to extending the rally, but her liner to right was tracked down to end the threat.

Kayla Koch added a run for SSU (16-10, 4-6 MSC) in the seventh with a squeeze bunt and UPIKE could only answer with one hit in the final frame, a single by Collier, before recording the final out. Shawnee had taken an early 2-0 lead in unconventional fashion, stealing home with two outs in the first inning before scoring on back-to-back groundouts in the second.

Both starters went the distance as Hannah Skaggs dropped to 8-7 overall as she scattered nine hits for five runs with no strikeouts and one walk. Tatum Wise (8-5) grabbed the win as she allowed just one earned run on six hits with three batters struck out and no free passes.

The only extra-base hit in the game was hit by SSU's Stacy Trenholm who went 2-for-4 with a double. Haley Rawlins joined her with two hits as Shawnee State outhit UPIKE 9-6 in the game and won despite committing three errors.

GAME TWO – Shawnee State 11, UPIKE 0 (5 inn.)

Shawnee State scored early in often in game two, tacking on two runs in the first inning, five in the second and four in the third to build an 11-0 lead before the third inning was over.

Marisa Brown hit a two-run homer in the first inning, followed by Trenholm adding a three-run shot in the second.

That blast made it 7-0 and forced UPIKE to pull starter Megan Claypoole who had given up seven runs on six hits with one strikeout in 1 2/3 innings. Kendra Gannon entered in relief and quickly got the final out of the inning.

But walks got to Gannon in the third as she issued two, as well as a leadoff double, that led to SSU scoring two runs on back-to-back sac flies. With two outs on the board, Shawnee State added two more runs on a bases-loaded walk and error in the infield.

The 11-0 lead stuck for the rest of the game as both teams came up empty in the fourth and fifth innings. UPIKE tallied a hit in each frame from Kelly and Gentry, but that was it as it ended up losing the hit battle 10-5 for the game.

Pikeville also left seven runners on base, compared to just two for SSU which hit two home runs, three doubles and a triple.

McKenzie Whittaker moved to 7-5 with the win in the circle as she threw a shutout with five hits allowed and three strikeouts.

-UPIKE-