SSU SB falls to Oakland City in River States Conference road doubleheader

OAKLAND CITY, Ind. -- The softball program at Shawnee State got a multi-hit outing from Genavie Espinoza in both games as well as multi-hit performances from Mackenzie Hale, Sydney Skiver and Emily Cheatham against the Oakland City Mighty Oaks' softball program, but dropped 9-1 and 6-5 decisions to Oakland City Friday evening in a River States Conference doubleheader that was held at EGGSL Field in Oakland City, Ind.

Shawnee State scored first in Saturday's opener in the second inning -- as a leadoff triple by Emily Moore was followed by an RBI single by Cameryn Davidson to put the Bears in front.

SSU then gave Oakland City all it could handle and more in the second game of the doubleheader -- as after battling the Mighty Oaks to a scoreless tie through three innings of play, Shawnee State cashed in during the fourth inning en route to batting around.

Hale's leadoff single to center field was followed by three more singles by Moore (bunt single), Skiver (single to right center field) and Bianca Belo-Diaz, the last of which drove in courtesy runner Andi Webb to give Shawnee State a 1-0 while keeping the bases loaded.

A sacrifice flyout to right field by Gracey McCullough, an RBI single by Cheatham and a two-out fielder's choice then followed -- allowing Webb, Moore and Skiver to score as Shawnee State took a 4-0 lead.

While Oakland City answered with two runs in the bottom of the same frame to cut Shawnee State's lead in half, Hale got the Shawnee State lineup going again in the fifth, doubling to left center before scoring on Skiver's RBI double to the same area of the outfield -- giving the Bears a 5-2 lead after five innings of work.

Oakland City was able to rally for the victory in a 13-inning grudge match, but not before a gritty pitching performance from Emma Wargel who threw a complete game over 12-and-two-thirds innings of action -- keeping Shawnee State in the game throughout.

In Game 2, Skiver (4-for-6, double, RBI, run scored), Hale (2-for-6, double, run scored), Cheatham (2-for-6, RBI) and Espinoza (2-for-7, double) led SSU at the plate while Belo-Diaz (1-for-3, two walks, RBI, run scored) and Moore (1-for-6, run scored) also reached via a hit in Game 2.

Additional

Shawnee State (23-15, 18-10 River States Conference) still sits very much in the hunt for the conference's No. 2 seed in the upcoming River States Conference Tournament. The Bears will play their final four games of the regular season beginning Friday at 3 p.m. against Saint Mary-of-the-Woods and commencing Saturday at 1 p.m. against Indiana-Columbus, with all four games to be held at Doc Singleton Park in West Portsmouth.