The softball team played four games in five days this past week, picking up two non-conference wins and dishing out the first conference loss to No. 1 in the River States Conference (RSC) Rio Grande.

The first of these games came last Wednesday when the Pioneers hosted NCAA DII non-conference opponent Slippery Rock University at Fairhaven Park.

Senior Ashley Iagnemma pitched all 7.0 innings of the first game, giving up three hits and one walk while striking out nine in the shutout.

Freshman Carissa Scekeres reached base in the fourth before sophomore Maddie Horn knocked a fly ball to the center field fence, bringing Scekeres home for the only run of the game.

Point Park registered nine total hits: Scekeres and Tiffany Edwards with two apiece, and Courtney Blocher, Amber Cook, Delaney Baumis, Chandler Krelow and Hailey Leitner each with one.

The doubleheader sweep of Slippery Rock came with junior Katie Tarr on the mound and a strong defense behind her. Tarr threw 15 total strikeouts and the defense committed zero errors throughout the course of the game.

This time Point Park got on the board early with Horn hitting a sacrifice fly to bring home freshman Alicia Egner in the second inning.

The next inning, Leitner hit a double to bring home Edwards. Edwards was four-for-four with two runs in the nightcap.

Julia Hoon pinch hit a two-run homer in the fifth, and Blocher hit an RBI single to right field for Point Park’s final run in the sixth.

The Pioneers gave up one run in the seventh inning, but the defense finished it out and took the 5-1 lead to complete the sweep of Slippery Rock.

Saturday, the seniors of Point Park were recognized prior to the doubleheader against Rio Grande, again at home.

The team is graduating four seniors this year: Iagnemma, Baumis, Edwards and Shannon Davis.

After the ceremony, Iagnemma took the mound for the first game.

Point Park tallied three hits compared to Rio’s four, but two homers, one in the first inning and one in the fifth, from the RedStorm gave them the edge for a 2-0 win.

Tarr again pitched the entirety of the second game, striking out 13, walking none, and facing just two batters over the minimum in her complete 7.0 inning game. Tarr is now 9-5 for the season and has recorded double-digit strikeouts in each of her last seven complete-game appearances.

In the sixth inning, Edwards delivered an RBI with a hit up the middle to bring Horn home for the eventual winning run. An insurance run was scored later the same inning when Paula Ambrose, who was pinch running for Edwards, scored on freshman Taylor Goldstrohm’s base hit.

Point Park is now 9-5 in the RSC, placing the Pioneers in third and just 1.0 behind second-place IU Southeast. Only four conference games remain for Point Park this season with the next two coming in the form of a doubleheader at Carlow, who also calls Fairhaven Park home, on Friday.