MINNEOLA, Fla. – The Shippensburg University softball team got a one-out sacrifice fly in the eighth inning Thursday off the bat of junior second baseman Taylor Pattillo to give the Raiders a 2-1 victory over Ferris State, putting SU head coach Bob Brookens atop the school's coaching wins list.
 
Shippensburg (5-2) concluded its Florida trip after having its 9 a.m. game with Wayne State (Neb.) canceled because of field conditions after overnight thunderstorms. The Raiders were supposed to continue play this weekend in Virginia, but the West Virginia Wesleyan Tournament was canceled because the impending inclement weather and suspect field conditions at the Moyer Complex.
 
Brookens, in his 15th season guiding the Raider softball team, has compiled a 450-254 career record. His teams have won three PSAC Championships, two NCAA regional championships and made 12 NCAA Tournament appearances in 14 years. A six-time PSAC Coach of the Year, Brookens has guided the Raiders to at least 26 wins in 12 of his 14 seasons. He is among the Top 50 winningest coaches in NCAA Division II history.  
 
His tenure at Shippensburg began in 1997, as he served as an assistant to SU's previous head coach Bobby Davis (449-204 record from 1985-2000). Brookens was Shippensburg's assistant softball and volleyball coach from 1997-2000 before taking over as head softball coach in 2001.
 
Thursday's game with Ferris State (4-17) was a doozy due to a ruling in the bottom of the first inning. Trailing 1-0, the Raiders had senior Maddie Justice reach on a hit by pitch before junior Briana Giovenco launched a ball high over the 15-foot-tall fence in left field for what appeared to be a two-run homer.
 
After the home-run celebration, Ferris State head coach Sarah Rotta argued that an SU player made contact with Giovenco before she touched home plate. After an umpire conference, Giovenco was ruled out – reverting the play to an RBI-triple and the score now being tied, 1-1.
 
Entering the bottom of the second inning, Brookens talked with the umpiring crew and cited Rule 9.6.3 and its effects. It states that "the first offense of interfering with a runner who is legally running the bases on a dead-ball award until the player contacts home plate" is a warning being issued, and any subsequent offense would then declare the runner out.
 
The umpires decided to restore the run as a result of the conference, putting Shippensburg up 2-1 as it entered its second time at bat.
 
Rotta did not come out to coach third base in the top of the third inning. Entering the bottom of the third inning, she returned to the field to argue the reversal armed with a cell phone – having called the tournament umpiring director. It was argued that because Shippensburg did not appeal the decision during the first inning that the reversal should not be granted. The protest went in Ferris State's favor, once again removing the run and returning the score to 1-1.
 
The run that wasn't a run that was a run that wasn't a run was important – as FSU pitcher Cara DeLange and SU freshman Chloe Collins were locked in a pitcher's duel. Collins, making her first collegiate start, allowed a lone first-inning run and scattered three hits in six innings, striking out seven. DeLange went all the way into the eighth, striking out seven and yielding just four hits.
 
The Raiders loaded the bases with one out in the sixth inning but could not score. Ferris State loaded the bases with two outs in the top of the seventh against SU senior Makenzie Lynn, but Lynn responded by striking out the FSU cleanup hitter on three pitches to end the inning.
 
Lynn ended up with the win, as in the top of the eighth inning she induced a pair of popups after a leadoff sacrifice bunt to survive the international tiebreaker. She pitched two shutout innings of relief.
 
In the bottom of the eighth, Justice bunted senior Tyler Thompson to third base, and Thompson raced home after a fielding error by the first baseman allowed Justice to reach. An alert play by the FSU second baseman, however, nabbed Thompson as she tried to score the winning run. Freshman Tara Bicko then ran for Justice, who had gotten to second base on the play.
 
Giovenco then worked a walk as Ferris State changed pitchers in the middle of the at-bat. Senior Taylor Weisman was intentionally walked to load the bases, and Pattillo immediately responded with a fly ball to medium depth in left field that allowed Bicko to race home for the winning run.
 
Shippensburg is scheduled to resume play next weekend (Mar. 20-21) with conference doubleheaders against Bloomsburg and East Stroudsburg. An update will be made available during the week regarding the time and location of the games.