Softball | 3/10/2019 11:43:00 AM

Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 | Box Score 3     GLENVILLE, W.Va. – The West Liberty University softball team won two out of three non-conference games on a brisk and breezy Saturday at Glenville State College.
    Coach Herb Minch's Hilltoppers (4-9) split a doubleheader with Shippensburg, getting a 5-4 walk-off nod in the opener before falling by a 5-1 count in the second game. The Black and Gold closed out the day with a 2-1 victory against Bloomsburg.
    In the first game against Shippensburg (5-5), West Liberty cruised into the seventh inning with a 4-1 lead only to see the Red Raiders plate three runs on four hits to forge a 4-4 tie.
    Allie Cook led off the bottom of the seventh for WLU with a single, was sacrificed to second and came around to score the winning run on back-to-back passed balls.
    The Hilltoppers pounded out nine hits in the win. Katie Beeman singled, doubled and drove in a run while Cook and Kat Donzella each had two hits and scored a run. Sydney Bennington mashed a 2-run home run in the fourth inning and Kaitlyn Stress added an RBI double.
    Shippensburg broke out the long ball to win the second game. Hannah Marstellar drove in three runs with a pair of circuit blasts while Courtney Cox delivered a 2-run shot.
    Donzella slammed a solo home run in the sixth for WLU's only run while Laral Saunders went 3-for-3 with a double and two singles.
    West Liberty spoiled Bloomsburg's season opener with the narrow one-run decision in the final game of the day.
    The Hilltoppers grabbed a 1-0 lead in the top of the second when Audrey Meloun reached base on an error, moved to third on back-to-back wild pitches and came jogging home on an RBI single by twin sister Kate Meloun.
    The Huskies tied it with a solo home run by Alexa Erney in the top of the fifth but West Liberty struck back quickly in the bottom of the frame as Katie Beeman singled and worked her way around to score on a fielder's choice.
    Anna Paterson held Bloomsburg to one run through the first six innings to pick up the win in the circle. Riley Bennington pitched a scoreless seventh frame to earn the save.
    Final stats for the Bloomsburg game were not immediately available.
    Weather permitting, West Liberty will try to play its home opener on Tuesday with a 3 p.m. doubleheader against Seton Hill (Pa.) scheduled for the WLU Softball Complex.