Softball | 3/18/2019 1:42:00 PM

 THE STORY
• The Bloomsburg University softball team heads back to West Virginia Wednesday for a doubleheader with Shepherd University. The Huskies are 4-7 on the young season after going 3-5 in eight games in Tennessee and North Carolina this past week. Wednesday's twinbill with the Rams was originally scheduled for March 5, but was postponed due to inclement weather. Shepherd is 9-5 overall this season and riding a three-game win streak into Wednesday's games.

THE HISTORY: BLOOMSBURG vs. SHEPHERD
• The Huskies are 9-2 all-time against Shepherd, but suffered an 8-0 loss to the Rams at the Coker College Tournament last spring. Kaitlyn Konopka went 1-for-3 with a double, run scored, and two RBI for Shepherd in the win. The Rams have won the last two meetings between the teams, with Bloomsburg's last win coming on March 12, 2016.

THE HUSKIES AT A GLANCE
• The Huskies enter Wednesday's double dip having won three of their last four games following a split with Lenoir-Rhyne Saturday. Freshman Danielle Barnes (Coopersburg, Pa./Southern Lehigh) went 5-for-7 with an RBI and two runs scored on the day, while fellow frosh Erin DelPierre (Harrisburg, Pa./Central Dauphin) went 3-for-4 with three RBI and a run scored in an 11-0 game one Huskies win. Hurler Abby Wild (Collegeville, Pa./Perkiomen Valley) was excellent in the circle for Bloomsburg in game one, striking out seven and allowing just one earned run on three hits in five innings.

• Senior Taylor Winkelman (Springfield, Pa/Springfield) has had a strong start to the season at the plate for Bloomsburg, batting .366 with a team-high six runs batted in. Freshman Sammi Starr (Berwick, Pa./21st Century Cyber Charter) is hitting .292 with a .929 OPS, six RBI and a team-high two home runs, while DelPierre is batting .361 with five RBI, five walks, three stolen bags, and a team-high .439 on-base percentage. Kelsey Impink (Schwenksville, Pa./Perkiomen Valley) leads the team in doubles with four, and Marissa Shelhamer (Bloomsburg, Pa./Central Columbia) and Kalynn Wheeland (South Williamsport, Pa./South Williamsport) have tallied a dinger and four RBI apiece. 

• Wild has been tremendous in the circle for the Huskies in the early-going. The sophomore is 4-1 in five starts, and has allowed just five earned runs in 37.0 innings of work. Her 0.95 earned run average (ERA) ranks third in the PSAC this season, while her 24 strikeouts are tied for 10th in the conference. Tara Baney (Howard, Pa./Bellefonte) has also notched five starts on the year for the Huskies, and has a 7.00 ERA and 16 strikeouts.

SCOUTING THE RAMS
• Shepherd enters Wednesday games at 9-5 overall on the new season following a doubleheader sweep at Glenville State Sunday. Junior pitcher Taylor Stocks was sensational in the circle and at the plate for the Rams, tossing a no-hitter in a 11-0 six-innings game two win. Stocks struck out 11 batters and allowed just one walk in the win, and also blasted a two-run homer. Shepherd won game one 7-1 behind seven strong innings from Lori Sturgill, who surrendered just one earned run on three hits in seven innings.

• Stocks was named Mountain East Conference (MEC) Pitcher of the Week after compiling a 3-0 week that included a one-hitter and a no-no. The junior struck out 10 in a one-hit win against West Virginia Wesleyan, and allowed just one earned run on six hits in eight innings against Lewis. In addition to Stocks, catcher Rachel Taylor was named MEC Player of the Week after going 15-of-29 (.517) at the plate with nine RBI and 10 runs scored. Taylor had five multi-hit games on the week, and tallied two doubles and a home run.
 

• Sturgill has started four games in the circle for the Rams and has a 1.82 ERA and 25 strikeouts. Stocks is 3-1 in four starts with a 2.73 ERA and a team-high 33 strikeouts. Taylor is batting a sterling .459 with 10 RBI and 11 runs scored, while Connor Gilligan is hitting 2.95 with three long balls and a team-high 12 runs batted in. Konopka is .326 at the plate with five RBI, two doubles, and six stolen bases.

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