Softball | 3/12/2017 6:07:00 PM

Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 | Box Score 3 SALEM, Va. – A 7-6 win against a strong Lincoln Memorial (Tenn.) squad highlighted a busy day of competition for the West Liberty University softball team as the West Virginia Wesleyan Tournament wrapped up here on Saturday.
     Coach Herb Minch's Hilltoppers (2-3) outslugged the Tennessee squad by a 7-6 score in the middle game of a rare tripleheader. West Liberty fell to Shippensburg by a 4-2 count and dropped an 11-3 decision to Edinboro in the other two contests.
     The Black and Gold wasted little time jumping on the Railsplitters (13-7) in the second game of their three-game set, batting around to send five runs across the plate in the bottom of the first inning.
     Lincoln Memorial scratched its way back into the contest with single tallies in the third and fifth frames before closing the gap to 5-4 with a two-spot in the top of the sixth.
     The opportunistic Hilltoppers tacked on a pair of unearned insurance runs in the bottom of the sixth, which proved to be just enough as a two-run homer by LMU in the top of the seventh left the Railsplitters one run shy.
     Kelsi Johnson and Nicki Mihalik each had two singles and an RBI for West Liberty. Nicole Chris doubled and drove in a run and Sydney Bennington added an RBI single. Savannah Sieger worked the first five innings in the circle to earn the win. Mary Tennant came on to get the final two outs to earn the save.
     In the first game, the Hilltoppers carried a 2-0 lead into the bottom of the sixth only to see the Red Raiders (13-8) take advantage of two errors and a passed ball to push four runs across the plate, three of which were unearned.
     Linda Hall took the hard-luck loss in the circle. She held Shippensburg to just four hits while striking out 4 and giving up only one base on balls. Johnson had two singles and drove in one of West Liberty's runs while Samantha Kilbanefouradded an RBI single.
     In the nightcap, the unbeaten Fighting Scots (5-0) broke up a 1-1 tie by scoring five runs - 4 unearned - with two out in the bottom of the second and West Liberty couldn't fight its way back.
     Charley Troggio paced the Hilltopper attack with two singles and a pair of RBIs while Bennington had another RBI base knock.
     The West Liberty softball team continues its southern swing on Monday with a 1 p.m. doubleheader at Fayetteville State (N.C.).
 
SOFTBALL
Shippensburg 4, West Liberty 2
West Liberty                                000 110 0 - 2  4  3
Shippensburg                              000 004 x - 4  4  3
     WLU: Hall lp (4SO, 1W) and Troggio. Johnson 2S, rbi; Kilbane S, rbi
     Ship: Smith wp (5SO, 2W) and Luck. Bicko 2S; Zaring D, 2rbi; Mulhall S
 
West Liberty 7, Lincoln Memorial 6
Lincoln Memorial                       001 012 2 - 6  9  4
West Liberty                                500 002 x - 7  7  4
     LMU: Smith lp (0SO, 0W), Burns (1) (0SO, 0W), Taylor (2) (2SO, 1W) and Moose. Jones HR, S, 2rbi; Goins HR, 2rbi; Moose 2S; Collins D; Hunter D; Schrimpf S, 2rbi
     WLU: Sieger wp (2SO, 0W), Thompson (6) (0SO, 0W), Bosley (7) (0SO, 0W), Tennant (7) (1SO, 0W) and Mogielski. Johnson 2S, rbi; Mihalik 2S, rbi; Chris D, rbi; Bennington S, rbi
 
Edinboro 11, West Liberty 3
Edinboro                                     106 121 - 11  11  1
West Liberty                               102 000 -   3    4  3
     Ed: Stevens (1SO, 2W), Metz wp (0SO, 1W) and Fleckenstein. Callaghan 2D, S, rbi; Alloco D, S, 3rbi; Jankowski D, 2rbi
     WLU: Hall lp (1SO, 0W), Wright (3) (1SO, 0W), Bosley (4) (0SO, 1W), Thompson (6) (0SO, 0W) and Troggio. Troggio 2S, 2rbi; Bennington S, rbi