EDWARDSVILLE – Freshman Bethany Shaud (Drums, PA/Marion Catholic) threw a one-hit shutout in game one before the bats came alive in game two as the Wilkes University softball team earned its first sweep of the season, defeating Penn State-Hazleton at Ralston Athletic Complex on Thursday evening by finals of 4-0 and 9-3.

The Lady Colonels are now 9-19 on the season with the two wins.

In game one, Wilkes scored its first two runs in the bottom of the second on two hits and a walk. Freshman Alexis Ayache (Catasauqua, PA/Catasauqua) led off the inning with a single to left field and was pinch-run for by fellow freshman Tea Heister (Weatherly, PA/Weatherly). Hesiter advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt by junior Mikala Strum (Grass Valley, CA/Nevada Union), and following a walk by junior Ally Paskas (Rutherford, NJ/Rutherford), advanced to third on a fielder's choice off the bat of freshman Haley Welker (Nazareth, PA/Nazareth) that forced Paskas out at second base. Welker stole second, and both runners came around to score on sophomore Christina Gambino (Basking Ridge, NJ/Ridge)'s double to the right center gap to give the Lady Colonels a 2-0 lead.

Wilkes struck for two more runs in the bottom of the sixth on three hits. With one out, Ayache was hit by a pitch, and moved to second on a single from Strum. Paskas singled to right field to load the bases, and following a pop-up, Gambino came through again with a two-run single to right field to give Wilkes a 4-0 lead.
Shaud made sure the lead stood, as she did not surrender a hit until the top of the seventh in her first career complete-game shutout. Shaud also walked one batter and had three strikeouts.

Gambino led the way at the plate in game one, setting career-highs in both hits and runs batted in as she finished 3-for-3 with four rbi's. Ayache, Strum, and Paskas also had a hit for the Lady Colonels in the first game.

In game two Wilkes used 10 hits and took advantage of six Penn State errors to earn the victory. The Lady Colonels jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first on two walks and three hits. Junior Lacey Bixler (Williamstown, PA/Williams Valley) led off with a walk and promptly stole second. Strum followed with a walk of her own with Bixler moving to third on a wild ball four, and stole second herself. Freshman Caitlin Brown (Glen Cove, NY/Glen Cove) then grounded out to second base, driving in Bixler and advancing Strum to third. Ayache followed with a single to second base, and Gambino came up and picked up where she left off in game one with an rbi single to left canter that advanced Ayache to second. Following a pop-up, Welker singled through the middle to load the bases, but Wilkes was unable to capitalize.

The Lady Colonels added to the lead in the bottom of the second on one hit, one walk, and one error. Sophomore Sarah Birchmeier (Cherry Hill, NJ/Cherry Hill East) led off the inning with a single to center and stole second. Bixler followed with a walk, and advanced to third on a flyout by Strum. On appeal, Bixler was ruled to have left first base too early and was called out on the play. Brown reached on a throwing error, scoring Birchmeier and giving Wilkes a 3-0 lead.

Penn State scored a run in the top of the third on two hits and a sacrifice fly to cut the lead to 3-1.

The Lady Colonels responded with three runs in the bottom of the inning, using three hits, and two errors to jump out to a 6-1 lead. Paskas came up with one out and hit a double to right-center field and advanced to third on a single by Welker. After Welker stole second, Heister reached after the third baseman dropped her pop-up. Both runners held until the saw the ball land, but the Penn State shortstop threw the ball away when trying to get Paskas at the plate, allowing her to score and Welker and Heister to move up a base. Following a pop-out, Bixler laced a single up the middle to score Welker and Heister.

Bixler added another run in bottom of the fifth, launching her first home run of the season to straight-away center field to give Wilkes a 7-1 lead.

Penn State tallied two runs in the top of the sixth on three hits and an error to cut the lead to 7-3.

The Lady Colonels finished the scoring with two runs in the bottom of the sixth on one hit and two errors. Ayache led off the inning reaching second base on a throwing error by the shortstop and was followed by Gambino, who hit a long fly ball to left that was dropped, allowing sophomore Mia Lussier (Somerset, MA/Somerset Berkley), who ran for Ayache, to come around and score while Gambino reached second base. Paskas then singled to left to move Gambino to third and stole second, with Welker following with a sacrifice fly to right field that scored Gambino and advanced Paskas to third.

Gambino finished off her career night by earning the win in game two, pitching 4.0 innings and allowing two unearned runs on six hits with zero walks and four strikeouts.
Ayache pitched the first two innings, allowing one run on three hits with one strikeout while Shaud threw the final inning allowing one hit with one strikeout.

Bixler led the way at the plate in the second game, finishing 2-for-2 with three rbi's, two runs scored, and two walks. Paskas was 2-for-3 with one run scored and one walk while Welker finished 2-for-3 with one rbi and one run scored.

The Lady Colonels return to the field on Saturday when they will host FDU-Florham for a 1 p.m. Middle Atlantic Conference Freedom doubleheader.