SHIPPENSBURG, Pa. – Senior Emily Estep threw Shippensburg University softball's first seven-inning no-hitter in its 53-game NCAA Tournament history on Friday afternoon, recording 12 strikeouts, as the Raiders plated single runs in the fourth and sixth innings to defeat IUP, 2-0, in NCAA Atlantic Regional Tournament competition at Robb Field.
 
Shippensburg (35-15) snapped a five-game losing streak in NCAA Tournament competition behind the third no-hitter of the season for Estep and the fifth of her career. It is also just the second NCAA no-hitter for the Raiders and the first since Kelley Tiesi blanked Kutztown in five innings on May 8, 2003.
 
Estep, a three-time PSAC East Pitcher of the Year, posted double-digit strikeouts for the fifth time this season and the 23^rd time in her career. In 14 innings this season against IUP (32-16), Estep has allowed just four hits and struck out 22 in 14 innings. She struck out the side in the fifth and seventh innings and of the 21 outs she recorded, all but four were either strikeouts, foul outs or pop outs.
 
The Raiders had not won in the NCAA Tournament since 2009 but thrived Friday on Estep's pitching and the solid production of its lineup, as the Top 8 hitters in SU's batting order each finished the day with at least one hit.
 
In the fourth inning, SU broke a scoreless tie with a two-out RBI-single from junior Taylor Weisman that plated sophomore pinch runner Julie Cramer. The inning began with a double by junior Maddie Justice, who was replaced on the base paths by Cramer.
 
With one out in the sixth inning, sophomore Taylor Pattillo rocketed a 1-1 pitch to the opposite field that kept rising as it soared over the right-center field fence and hit near the top of Robb Sports Complex fence beyond the wall.
 
Pattillo's 10^th home run of the season makes her just the fourth player in school history with double-digit home runs in a single season and marks the first time in school history that two players on the same team have hit 10 or more round trippers in the same campaign (Weisman leads SU with 12).
 
IUP entered Friday having hit .307 with nine home runs in just five games at last week's PSAC Tournament and averaging a home run per game. The Crimson Hawks managed just three walks against Estep, however, and only got one runner to second base in the contest.
 
Shippensburg will host West Virginia Wesleyan (42-12) in Game 3 of the 2014 NCAA Atlantic Regional Tournament (Site 2) at 10 a.m. tomorrow from Robb Field.