Game 1
Game 2

MANSFIELD, Pa. - The Shippensburg University softball team was eliminated from the race for the third and final spot from the Eastern Division in next week's PSAC Softball Tournament after splitting a doubleheader with Mansfield on Saturday afternoon at Helen Lutes Field to conclude the regular season.

Shippensburg (27-25, 10-14 PSAC East) needed to win both games of the doubleheader to secure its sixth appearance in the PSAC Tournament in the last seven seasons, as the opportunity arose to take control of the third and final seed given the fact that West Chester (31-20, 10-14 PSAC East) was swept by #17 Kutztown (44-10, 21-3 PSAC East) on Saturday afternoon by scores of 4-2 and 6-0.

Due to Shippensburg's split and Kutztown's sweep, East Stroudsburg (17-28, 11-13 PSAC East) earned the No. 3 seed from the Eastern Division on Saturday despite being idle. It is the second consecutive appearance in the tournament for the Warriors after not making the postseason since 1981.

Shippensburg cruised to victory in Game 1 by taking the opener 8-0 in five innings, as junior Lori Knopf struck out four and allowed just two hits while sophomore Lisamarie Ramagli hit her third home run of the season and finished with two RBIs and two runs. For the afternoon, Ramagli reached base four times and had three RBIs.

The Lady Raiders plated five unearned runs with two outs in the top of the second after the Mountaineers committed three fielding errors. After Ramagli led off the inning with a walk, Mansfield starter Lindsay Knapp recorded back-to-back strikeouts. A fielding error and a single loaded the bases, and senior Liz Good came to the plate and ultimately reached on an error by Knapp that scored Ramagli to give Shippensburg a 1-0 lead.

Senior Sarah Stengl then came to the plate and reached on an error by the third baseman that allowed freshman Jill Mullan and junior Rachelle Wedell to score. Freshman Hope Cornell and Knopf followed with RBI-singles that capped off the five-run inning for the Lady Raiders.

In the fourth inning, Knopf delivered an RBI-single and scored on Ramagli's two-run home run to conclude all of the scoring in the first game of the doubleheader.

In Game 2, the Lady Raiders opened the scoring with a solo home run from Cornell, her eighth of the season, to give Shippensburg a 1-0 lead. Senior Dani Shields started and pitched the first inning, allowing one hit and one earned run along with throwing a wild pitch and hitting a batter. She was replaced in the second inning by senior Jill Kirby, who threw the final five innings and struck out four.

Mansfield (13-20, 7-17 PSAC East) took a 2-1 lead with a solo home run from Nicole Yost off Kirby, but the Lady Raiders quickly re-tied the game in the top of the third. Stengl doubled to leadoff the frame and came around to score on an RBI-double from Ramagli.

However, the Mountaineers scored the winning run in the fifth inning on an RBI-double from Sarah Cullen. Shippensburg was not able to register a base runner over the course of its final two plate appearances.

Despite its elimination from PSAC Tournament contention, Shippensburg is currently ranked fifth in the Mid-Atlantic Region and is still alive for a berth in the NCAA Division II Mid-Atlantic Regional Championships, which will be held May 8-10 at a site to be determined.

The top eight teams from the region will advance to the tournament, as six teams will receive at-large bids in addition to the automatic berths awarded to the winners of the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) and the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA) Tournaments.

Check back with www.shipraiders.com for the latest information as it becomes available.