Breanna Crognale
Staff Writer

The Millersville University softball team played host to Mansfield University on Saturday in a doubleheader featuring two shutouts.

In game one, ace pitcher Brianna Andraos took the hill and went the distance, recording her tenth win of the season. Andraos gave up five hits and recorded four strikeouts as the Marauders shutout the Mountaineers 2-0. She struggled in the games early innings, where she surrendered two hits in the second and faced a bases loaded jam in the third.

Splitting the doubleheader put Millersville at a respectable 15-13 record on the season.
Splitting the doubleheader put Millersville at a respectable 15-13 record on the season.

The Mountaineers Stephanie Smith began the third with a single to right field and a fielder’s choice allowed Courtney Bauder to get on base. The Marauders ace rebounded to record the first out in the inning, before surrendering a single to Amanda Goodwin.

The pressure was on now as Andraos responded by striking out the next hitter she faced. Then she got Kaitlyn Harris to groundout to end the inning, halting the Mountaineers onslaught.

It was smooth sailing the remainder of the game for the Millersville sophomore as she made quick work of Mansfield’s hitters. The Millersville offense was quiet for a majority of the game, with the main exception being in the bottom of the third.

Taylor Odell-Smith singled with one out and then Jordan Sheffield blasted a two run homer to leftfield off Mansfield starter Kate Pratt, to give Millersville the 2-0 lead. It was Sheffield’s third homerun of the season for the Marauders. The inning ended with Brittany Smith striking out, and catcher Gabbie Berry stranded at third.

The second game featured a pitcher’s duel between Andraos and Mansfield’s Emily Crandell. Millersville would drop the contest as they were shutout 4-0 by the Mountaineers. Andraos went the distance giving up 8 hits and four runs in the loss, which drops her to 10-6 on the season.

Despite the score, it was a close game with both pitchers mowing through the opposing team’s lineup. Andraos again encountered trouble in the third inning, where she had the bases loaded with two outs. Mansfield’s Bauder reached on an error by Danielle DiFilippo, while Pratt and Goodwin were both walked. The Millersville ace rebounded to record the final out off a fielder’s choice with Pratt out at third base.

Millersville threatened offensively in the fifth inning where Stephanie Kulp and Mandy Hammond both singled. Kulp was caught trying to steal home from third, for the first out. Then after Sheffield walked to put runners on the corners, Berry grounded into a double play to end the inning.

The game was scoreless heading into the seventh inning, where it all unraveled for Andraos and the Marauders. Mansfield’s Hannah Secord singled to begin the inning and scored from second on a leftfield single by Stephanie Simmeth. Bauder followed with a single to left center and Pratt reached on a fielder’s choice to load the bases.

Andraos got the next hitter to ground out, but Simmeth was able to score to make it 2-0. Then Kayla Hahn smacked a double down the right field line, scoring Bauder and Pratt to make it 4-0.

Andraos managed to refocus to get the next batter out, but the damage was all ready done. In the bottom of the seventh, Crandell recorded the first two outs, before Kulp hit a double. She would be left stranded at third base as Hammond would strike out to end the contest.

The split puts Millersville at 15-13 this season, and they are back in action on Sunday with a doubleheader against Shippensburg.