SHIPPENSBURG, Pa. — The Shippensburg University softball team is hosting NCAA Atlantic Region Tournament play for the second consecutive year as No. 2 seed W. Va. Wesleyan, No. 6 seed IUP and No. 7 seed Mansfield will come to Robb Field for the 2014 Atlantic Region 2 bracket. Competition begins Friday at noon and will last through Sunday.
A full schedule of events can be accessed at the tournament home page:
http://www.shipraiders.com/NCAASB14.
Last season, SU was the No. 2 seed and hosted No. 3 W. Va. State, No. 6 Kutztown and No. 7 Bloomsburg. The sixth-ranked Golden Bears won the regional and advanced all the way to the National Championship game.
This year, Shippensburg is the No. 3 seed and ranked No. 22 in the NFCA Division II national poll. The Raiders are playing well heading into the NCAA Tournament, having just finished second in the 2014 PSAC Tournament, while hitting at a torrid rate. In last week's PSAC Tournament, SU slugged 11 home runs and hit .307 as a team while scoring 25 runs. SU's 31 home runs this season are its most since the 2007 season.
Over the last two weeks, the Raiders have scored 57 runs in 13 games while slamming 15 home runs and 37 extra-base hits in that span. By comparison, SU had 14 homers for the entire 2013 season and just eight in 2012.
Shippensburg has a few individuals on pace for school records. Among them, shortstop
Taylor Weisman has tied SU's single-season school record with 12 home runs. Left fielder
Hilary Lyons is two stolen bases shy of tying junior teammate
Tyler Thompson's single-season school record (31 in 2013).
Scoring multiple runs has been integral to SU's success this season. Shippensburg is 28-4 this season when scoring three or more runs in a game while posting an 8-11 record when scoring two runs or less. The Raiders are also 16-5 this season in games that they hit a home run, and 15-2 when they score in the first inning of a game.
The team will be looking to reverse its recent NCAA Tournament trends. Shippensburg has lost its last five NCAA Atlantic Regional Tournament games, including 0-2 records in 2011 and 2013. The Raiders won single games in 2009 (2-0 over Bowie St.), 2008 (4-0 over Slippery Rock) and 2007 (10-2 over Bowie St.). SU finished third in 2006 and second in 2005 after winning regional titles in 2003 and 2004.
Overall, SU is 22-30 in NCAA Tournament history, with its highest finish being third place in 2004.
Complete SU softball notes are available at the link posted above and
here.
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