FAYETTEVILLE — Through the first 12 games of the season, the Chambersburg softball team had its way on offense, averaging 12.3 runs per game.

But things have dried up for the Trojans in the last three games, all losses, culminating in a 1-0 loss to State College on Tuesday afternoon at Norlo Park in a Mid Penn Conference showdown. It was same score the Little Lions won by on Monday at home, 1-0, with the same two pitchers.

Kylee Miller

Chambersburg’s Kylee Miller was outstanding both days, allowing a total of five hits and four walks in 13 innings, with 13 strikeouts. Both of the runs scored against her were unearned.

And yet, she was saddled with two losses because her team could not score off of the Little Lions’ Zia Bodner. In 14 innings, Bodner allowed eight hits and three walks and struck out 15.

“Kylee pitched so well and her ERA is now down under 0.40 — it hurts that we had to lose two games when she pitched so well,” Trojan coach Chris Skultety said. “That’s the kind of pitching you need to do well in the playoffs … but not if we can’t hit.”

On Tuesday, the only hit was by Alyssa Brechbill in the first inning, a hard grounder back up the middle. Very few other batters for Chambersburg made solid contact, one of them being a line drive to third by Sam Paetow that was turned into a double play. Only three runners were able to reach second base.

Skultety said, “Lately, teams are pitching us away, and we’re not making adjustments. We’ll be practicing that tomorrow, for sure, as long as it takes. We need to be able to hit to right field if they throw it there.

“They took us out of our game because we couldn’t get any runners on base.”

In their last 21 innings, the Trojans have totaled only 15 hits and have scored in only one inning. They have been shackled for19 straight scoreless innings.

State College scored an unearned run in the bottom of the seventh Monday; on Tuesday, it scored an unearned run in the first inning.

With one out, Jessica Hawbaker hit a grounder to shortstop and Hannah Runk could not make the play. Hawbaker then stole second base in front of a strikeout. But, with two outs, Olivia McTavish lined a solid single to left-centerfield and that scored Hawbaker without a throw.

The Little Lions got the first two batters on base in the third on a walk and an error, but Miller retired them on a pop-up, strikeout and hot grounder back to her. In the sixth, SC had two on with one out, but Miller snagged a hard line drive and doubled a runner off first.

Chambersburg, now 12-3 and 8-3 in the Commonwealth, is pretty much out of the running for any division laurels, since State College is 13-1 (10-0 MPC). But the Trojans can still grab a high seed for the District 3 playoffs, which include home playoff games.

“We’ve been in droughts before and have worked out of them,” Skultety said. “But right now we have too many kids playing for themselves and not for the team. That has to change.”

                      State College 1, Chambersburg 0
State College                                                  Chambersburg
                                     ab  r  h  bi                                                 ab  r  h  bi
Wells 2b                      4   0   0   0                   Boyd lf                   3   0   0   0
Hawbaker ss              3   1   1   0                   Runk ss                  2   0   0   0
Burkey cf                    2   0   0   0                   Brechbill cf           2   0   1   0
McTavish 1b              3   0   1   1                    Paetow c               2   0   0   0
Bierly dp                    2   0   1   0                    Allison cr              0   0   0   0
Babcock c                   0   0   0   0                    Newman dp         3   0   0   0
Meengs 3b                 3   0   0   0                     Miller p                 0   0   0   0
McDyre rf                  3   0   0   0                     Null 3b                  2   0   0   0
Bodner p                    3   0   0   0                     Ganoe ph              1   0   0   0
Knapp lf                     1   0   0   0                     Benedick rf          1   0   0   0
Todd ph                      1   0   1   0                     Stockslager ph     1   0   0   0
Secrist 1b              2   0   0   0
Fetterhoff 2b        2   0   0   0
Totals                        25  1   3   1                     Totals                  22   0   1   0
State College          100    000    0    —    1
Chambersburg      000    000    0    —    0
E — SC 1; Chbg 2. LOB — SC 6; Chbg 3. SB — Hawbaker, Knapp; Brechbill 2, Runk. DP — SC 1; Chbg 1.
State College Pitching
                                 ip  h  r  er  bb  so
Bodner (W)             7   1   0   0   3   6
Chambersburg Pitching
Miller (L,9-3)          7   3   1   0   3   5