Collis

SHEPHERDSTOWN — Last Saturday’s softball doubleheader sweep of visiting Millersville gave Shepherd third place in the PSAC East Division and qualified the Rams for this week’s conference tournament in Quakertown, Pa.

In stopping the Marauders twice at Cree Field, Shepherd was able to join the 10-team field that will play for the conference championship.

Shepherd had dropped consecutive doubleheaders leading up to the crucial games on Saturday.

Pitcher Madelayne Ruffner went the distance in game one and limited Millersville to only three hits, while striking out 13 in another of her season-long complete games. Ruffner also had a walk-off RBI single in the last of the seventh inning that plated Camdyn Noland, who had a two-out double to ignite that quick-strike game-winning rally as the Rams prevailed, 2-1.

Brenna Collis, who drilled a solo home run in Shepherd’s, 7-3, win in game two, had delivered an RBI single that accounted for Shepherd’s first run.

Ruffner

Ruffner ran her impressive pitching record to 16-3 with the win.

In the much-needed game two win, the Rams grabbed an immediate 4-0 lead in the first on two-RBI hits from Noland and Haylee Hartman.

Collis would add her solo homer and then Hartman clubbed another solo shot, to add to the Shepherd lead. Hartman finished the game going 3-for-3.

Sam Colaw was the winning pitcher, with her five innings of quality relief.

Shepherd joined other East Division members East Stroudsburg, Kutztown, Bloomsburg and Shippensburg in the tournament field. Qualifying from the West Division were top-seeded Slippery Rock, Gannon, Seton Hill, Indiana and California.

Noland

The Rams faced Gannon in this past Wednesday’s opening round of the double elimination event.

The tournament champion will be crowned on Saturday.

If the Rams defeated Gannon, they then faced the winner of the East Stroudsburg versus Indiana game that was also played on Wednesday. If Shepherd dropped its tournament opener, it would have played the loser of the Bloomsburg versus California game on Wednesday.

Colaw

Hartman