QUAKERTOWN, Pa. – The Shippensburg University softball team rallied in the sixth inning of both of its tournament-opening games Wednesday to win twice in the opening round of the 2024 Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Softball Championships being held at Veterans Park. The Raiders defeated West No. 5 seed IUP in the morning, 9-5, before defeating West No. 1 seed Gannon in the afternoon, 10-7.
 
Shippensburg (33-17) totaled 25 hits and five different Raiders hit a home run on the day.
 
Senior Taylor Myers went 6-for-9, including 5-for-5 against Gannon to mark the first time a Raider has gone 5-of-5 at the PSAC Tournament this century. She added four runs and an RBI.
 
Myers is now tied with SU Hall of Famer Liz Corr '05 for second in school history with 279 career hits.
 
Sophomore shortstop Caitlyn Martell, the 2023 PSAC Tournament MVP, hit .500 (4-for-8) Wednesday with four RBI, including a two-run home run against IUP.
 
Freshman Sarah Sabocsik and junior Katelyn Minney each had three hits. Sabocsik hit a pair of two-run home runs against IUP and finished the day with a team-high five RBI. Minney had two RBI on the day, coming on a home run against Gannon.
 
Senior Alyssa Nehlen, who entered Wednesday as the team's on-base percentage leader but with just four extra-base hits this season, delivered a double and a clutch three-run triple against Gannon. Her bases-clearing triple marked the first time in her 197-game career (540 career at-bats) that she produced three RBI in one at-bat.
 
Senior Morgan Lindsay had a two-run homer and a walk against Gannon. Freshman Brie Wilmot, freshman Emily Lafferty and sophomore Emilee Sullivan each had two hits.
 
In the circle, junior Alicia Ball started the game against IUP and came in as a relief pitcher seven batters into the bottom of the first inning against Gannon.
 
Ball threw 11.2 innings overall on Wednesday, allowed 13 hits, and struck out 14. By comparison, Ball pitched a total of just 10 innings in SU's five-game championship run last season.
 
Graduate Maelynn Leber earned the win against IUP and got the save against Gannon. Leber came in during the top of the sixth against IUP and did not allow a hit, striking out two. She then entered a bases-loaded situation with two outs in the bottom of the seventh inning against Gannon, with the score 10-7, and in a full count, struck out the batter looking to end the game.
 
Shippensburg will face East No. 2 seed Kutztown at 10 a.m. Thursday in the winner's bracket.
 
Shippensburg 9, IUP 5
 
The Raiders opened the scoring in the bottom of the first with a two-out, two-run rocket homer to center field by Saboscik to take a 2-0 lead. Shippensburg attacked again in the bottom of the third with a two-run home run to left by Martell, making it 4-0.
 
IUP rallied in the top of the fourth inning as the Crimson Hawks drew back-to-back walks to put runners in scoring position. Tess Smiley hit a single through the right side to bring home two, followed by an RBI groundout by Jess Cekada to get the Crimson Hawks within one of the Raiders. IUP struck again in the sixth with a solo home run by Jordan Sylvia to tie it and an RBI-single by Cekada to give the Crimson Hawks their first lead of the game, 5-4.
 
Undaunted, Shippensburg had its own rally in the bottom of the sixth, as the Raiders scored five runs. Lindsay drew a walk, which was followed by a Saboscik two-run homer to center field to re-gain the lead, 6-5. Wilmot then ripped a solo home run to the same location to extend the lead to 7-5.
 
With one out, Minney hit a hard triple down the right-field line and came home from an RBI-single by Lafferty. Martell topped off the scoring with an RBI-single to left field to bring home Nehlen, who reached base on a hit-by-pitch.
 
Leber, who had appeared in just nine games this season as a pitcher, came in clutch in the sixth to end the IUP rally and ultimately claimed her first win of the season. Leber went 1-2-3 in the top of the seventh to close out the game.
 

RAIDERS WIN 😤 We take on Gannon next at 3PM!! pic.twitter.com/xtEHlp370Q

— SHIP Sports Info (@ShipURaiders) May 1, 2024

 
 
Shippensburg 10, Gannon 7
 
The Raiders opened the scoring the same way they did against IUP with a two-run shot in the first inning, but this time, it was a shot by Lindsay into the trees beyond the center-field fence. Gannon answered right back in the bottom of the first with an RBI-single and a two-run double to take a 3-2 lead. The Golden Knights looked to threaten again in the next inning with the bases loaded, but Ball was able to get out of the jam with a strikeout.
 
In the top of the third, the Raiders tied the game with a two-out RBI double by Sabocsik, which brought home Myers, who had singled to center field. In the bottom of the fourth inning, Gannon's Alaina Whipkey hit a two-run home run to left center to give the Golden Knights their second lead of the day, 5-3.
 
Shippensburg's fire was sparked in the top of the sixth, as the Raiders loaded the bases with a walk from Wilmot, a single by Sullivan, and Lafferty reaching on an error. Nehlen ripped a ball down the right-field line in front of a diving outfielder that cleared the bases and gave the Raiders a 6-5 lead. Myers then immediately brought home Nehlen to make it 7-5.
 
The Raiders bats carried the momentum into the top of the seventh, scoring three more runs off five hits. Minney hit a two-run homer to right center to give the Raiders a 9-5 lead. In a two-out situation, Martell singled to shortstop to bring home Nehlen, who had reached base on a double, to extend the lead to 10-5.
 
In the bottom of the seventh, Gannon did not give up and got its first two runners on base. Sullivan caught a foul ball at third to get the first out, while Ball struck out a batter to get the second out. GU's Bella Atherton hit a two-run single to reduce the deficit to three runs.
 
Gannon then got two more runners on base after a fielding error and a hit-by-pitch. Leber then entered the circle and closed it out with a strikeout looking.
 

Triple for Alyssa = 3 RBIs🤯 Raiders up 6-5 pic.twitter.com/MGLgg7p7W7

— SHIP Sports Info (@ShipURaiders) May 1, 2024

 

MAE WITH A K 😤

No one better than our senior Mae to get the last out in a bases-loaded situation 🤩 pic.twitter.com/ZJtCIDPjwG

— SHIP Sports Info (@ShipURaiders) May 1, 2024