RUSTON, La. – The Fairleigh Dickinson softball team dropped its third game of the 2019 slate, falling 8-0 to Wichita State on Sunday morning.
 
In the loss, junior right-hander Erica Johnson (0-2) lasted 2.1 innings and allowed six earned runs on five hits, while striking out four.
 
Johnson's classmate Irene Herrera came on and pitched 1.2 innings of relief before giving way to Courtney Mahoney, who tossed two frames of one-run ball in her collegiate debut.
 
In addition to her debut on the mound, Mahoney came through with one of the Knights' two hits in the game and finished 1-for-2. The Allenwood, N.J. native's hit, which was the first of her young career, came via a leadoff single to left field.
 
Erin McDonald started for the Shockers (7-3) and held the Knights (0-3) to just two hits across her complete-game shutout.
 
The Shockers jumped on the board in their first turn at bat when shortstop Laurie Derrico plated Ryleigh Buck with a triple to right-center field.
 
Junior Madison Emerson supplied the Knights' first hit of the contest with a two-out single in the home first but McDonald retired the next batter Reanna Cervantes with a pop-out.
 
In the top of the second, Wylie Glover delivered the key blow for the Shockers when she rounded the bases for a three-run, inside-the-park home run.
 
The four-run lead proved to be more than enough for the Shockers, who tacked on two runs in the third, one in the fourth and one in the sixth.
 
After Mahoney led off the fifth with a single, she was quickly erased as McDonald induced a double-play from the next batter. McDonald proceeded to keep the Knights at bay for the remainder of the game.
 
The Knights return to the field later today to host Louisiana Tech at 4:00 p.m. (EST).