FORTVILLE — Senior Audrey Ricker spun a five-hit shutout and got all the offensive support she would need in a third inning, five-hitter span as Pendleton Heights softball won its second straight game on the road 3-0 against Mt. Vernon on Wednesday.

The Arabians (15-7, 3-1 Hoosier Heritage Conference) will get another HHC road test later today, when they visit Delta.

Offense was short supply for both teams, with the Arabians managing only nine hits. Fortunately for Pendleton Heights, four of those came in succession in the third inning.

Juniors Olivia Conner and Lauren Landes started the inning with singles. Junior Savannah Hawhee and senior Ashley King followed with RBI singles of their own, for a 2-0 Arabian lead. Junior Kelsey Sturgeon capped the rally with a sacrifice fly, driving home Hawhee with what turned out to be the final run of the game.

“I’m a little disappointed in our hitting,” Pendleton Heights coach Rob Davis said after watching his team collect just three hits after the third inning. “We should have been better than that. There’s just something I haven’t figured out yet, but we’ve got a week, week and a half to get it figured out.”

If offense for the Arabians was scarce, it was completely absent for Mt. Vernon (4-10).

Ricker scattered five hits and walk with three strikeouts to shut down the Marauders. Four times, Mt. Vernon put the leadoff batter aboard, but the senior was able to pitch around trouble, including the second inning when she recorded her only three strikeouts in succession after the first two runners had reached base.

“I thought she threw too many pitches early” Davis said. “But after we got the three-run lead, she seemed to settle down a little bit.”

The other 18 outs were recorded flawlessly by the Arabian defense.

“We didn’t have any errors tonight, and that’s something we’ve been talking a lot about lately,” Davis added.