Softball | 4/29/2014 7:26:00 PM
SHIPPENSBURG, Pa. – The Shippensburg University softball team travels to Quakertown, Pa., this week to compete in the 2014 PSAC Championships from Veterans Park. The Eastern Division No. 3-seed Raiders open the double-elimination conference tournament on Thursday with a 1:30 p.m. contest against Western Division No. 2-seed IUP.
Day passes are $10 each. Children 12 and under, along with students of PSAC-member schools (with a school ID card), will receive free admission. PSAC passes will also be honored.
Live statistics of all games can be accessed through the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference website and shipraiders.com. Links will change depending on the field being used. SU will play on Field 2 vs. the Crimson Hawks on Thursday.
The winner will advance to play the winner of East No. 1-seed West Chester and West No. 4-seed Edinboro at 6:30 on Thursday evening while the losers of each game will play each other in the consolation bracket, also at 6:30 that night.
With the conference having moved from three five-team divisions to two eight-team divisions this season, the tournament now features eight total teams (the top four from each division) instead of nine (the top three from each division, with a "play-in" game).
Scouting Shippensburg • Shippensburg got off to a hot 14-2 start this season with its annual trip south to the NTC Spring Games in Clermont, Fla., and the West Virginia Wesleyan Tournament in Salem, Va.
• SU has gone 17-11 since then in PSAC East play but has posted a 5-7 record against its East counterparts that also qualified for PSACs (3-1 vs. No. 2-seed Bloomsburg and 1-3 each vs. West Chester and No. 4-seed Mansfield.
• Offensively, the Raiders are batting .292 on the season while 76 of their 349 hits have gone for extra bases. SU has primarily played "small ball" – 44 sacrifices as well as 10 more stolen bases (72) than the next-most team in the PSAC – yet has the power bats in the lineup to take advantage of Veterans Park's shallow fences.
• The pitching staff boasts a 2.50 ERA – led by All-America candidate
Emily Estep. The senior ranks among the Top-10 in Division II with a 0.96 ERA to go along with PSAC-best totals of 20 wins and a career-high 158 strikeouts.
Recent History at the PSAC Championships • Shippensburg has not won a conference tournament title since winning three straight from 2003-05, and is hoping this week to reverse its recent trend.
• The Raiders are 3-6 at the PSAC Championships over the last three seasons, including opening-game losses in each of the last two seasons. In each of the last three years, SU has gone 1-2 despite twice being the East No. 1 seed (in 2011 and 2013) and the East No. 2 seed in 2012.
2013 (East No. 1) [Quakertown, Pa.]Game 1: L 0-6 vs. Bloomsburg (Central No. 3)
Game 2: W 4-2 vs. Mansfield (Central No. 2)
Game 3: L 0-2 vs. West Chester (East No. 3)
2012 (East No. 2) [Drifton, Pa.]Game 1: L 5-9 vs. Lock Haven (Central No. 1)
Game 2: W 3-2 vs. California (Pa.) (West No. 1)
Game 3: L 0-8 vs. Kutztown (East No. 1)
2011 (East No. 1) ["pod" play]Game 1: W 2-1 vs. Mercyhurst (West No. 3)
Game 2: L 0-8 vs. IUP (Central No. 2)
Game 3: L 1-3 vs. IUP (Central No. 2)
2009 (East No. 2) ["pod" play]Game 1: W 3-2 vs. Slippery Rock (West No. 3)
Game 2: L 0-7 vs. Lock Haven (Central No. 1)
Game 3: W 11-5 vs. Slippery Rock (West No. 3)
Game 4: L 1-11 vs. Lock Haven (Central No. 1)
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