MURFREESBORO – The Shepherd University Rams and Chowan University Hawks needed extra innings to decide a pair of non-conference matchups Tuesday. The Rams (9-5) prevailed in both games, winning the opener 5-4 and the nightcap 9-8. Both games went nine innings, with Shepherd scoring the go-ahead run in the top half of the ninth each game.

 

Chowan (16-12) fell behind early in game one, when Megan Holmes hit a home run to put the Rams up 1-0. That score would remain until the home half of the fifth inning. In that frame, Liz Hipple drove in Katie Duncan with a double and Lacey Wildeboer scored on an Alex Allen single to put the Hawks up 2-1.

 

The Rams added a run in the sixth inning to tie the game at two and sent it into extras. In the top of the eighth inning, Chelsie Oals scored for Shepherd to give them a 3-2 lead. The Hawks answered, however, in the bottom of the frame when Lacey Wildeboer scored to knot the score at three.

 

The Rams came back in the top of the ninth to score two runs off two hits. Chowan's rally fell just short in the bottom of the ninth, as they could only manage one run. Lacey Wildeboer scored a team-high two runs for Chowan and pitched 4.0 innings, giving up 1 earned run off 6 hits.

 

Nichole Pitcock earned the win for Shepherd, pitching all nine innings and striking out seven batters. Allie Kolezynski suffered the loss for Chowan. She threw 5.0 innings, giving up five hits and two earned runs.

 

Chowan once again fell behind early in the nightcap, as the Rams opened up a 4-0 lead after two innings. The Hawks climbed back with one run in the third and two in the fourth to close the gap to 4-3. Shepherd added two runs in the top of the sixth to take a 6-3 advantage.

 

The Hawks again showed their resiliency by scoring three runs in the bottom of the sixth to knot the score at six apiece. Aided by three Shepherd errors and three singles, Chowan plated Fahren Munro, Katie Duncan, and Mindy Byrd to tie the game.

 

Each team scored once in the seventh and eighth innings, but Chowan could not answer in the ninth, as they fell 9-8. Liz Sill went 3-5 in game two with one RBI. Fahren Munro went 2-6 from the plate and scored two runs. Mindy Byrd also scored two runs for Chowan.

 

Nichole Pitcock picked up her second win of the day for Shepherd, pitching 5.0 innings in relief. Allie Kolezynski suffered the loss in game two, pitching 2.0 innings and giving up two runs off one hit.

 

Chowan will host CIAA foe Elizabeth City State University this Thursday in a doubleheader. First pitch is scheduled for 11:00am. Shepherd heads to Raleigh on Wednesday to take on Shaw University.