STROUDSBURG, Pa. – The Shippensburg University softball team had its 2024 season come to an end Sunday with an NCAA Atlantic Regional Tournament loss to Kutztown, 5-1, in action on a cold and damp day at Vigon International Field at Creekview Park.
It was the seventh time in 2024 that the long-time Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Eastern Division adversaries had faced off, so there wasn't much mystery between the two teams and the second pitching matchup of the day between junior
Alicia Ball and Haley Gravish.
The game was more or less decided in the first inning. Shippensburg (36-21) continued its momentum from Game 1 by scoring right away in the top of the first, as freshman
Sarah Sabocsik sent the first pitch of her at-bat into left field for an RBI-single that gave the Raiders a lead just four batters into the game.
With runners on second and third and two outs, Gravish recorded one of just two total strikeouts in the game to get out of the inning.
Kutztown (36-23) then jumped on Ball in the bottom of the first, recording a leadoff walk and then dinking and dunking four singles in the next five at-bats to take a 3-1 lead. The Golden Bears added two more runs in the fourth that proved to be cushion.
SU's only other legitimate scoring chances came in the third and the seventh innings, but the Raiders stranded two runners each time. Gravish gutted through her outing, scattering seven singles and two walks over the course of 173 pitches in two games.
The Top 4 in Shippensburg's lineup had six of the team's seven hits in the game. Senior
Taylor Myers and sophomore
Caitlyn Martell each went 2-for-4. Sabocsik also drew a walk and reached base twice.
Ball finished her outing scattering five runs on nine hits, walking three. She finishes her best season to date with single-season bests of 21 victories (most by a Raider in 11 years), 22 complete games, 194.2 innings pitches, 30 starts, 163 strikeouts and four shutouts.
It wraps up a phenomenal career for SU's senior class: Myers,
Morgan Lindsay,
Alyssa Nehlen and
Maelynn Leber. The Raiders have gone 102-61 since the start of the 2022 season, reaching the NCAA Tournament each season and winning the 2023 PSAC Championship.
CAREER NOTES:
Myers finishes her career with the school record for career hits (294) and ranked second in school history in career runs (190).
Nehlen finishes her career with the school record for career hit-by-pitches (47).
Lindsay finishes her career ranked third in school history in career home runs (33) and career RBI (152) and fourth in school history in career walks (80). All three totals were achieved in just three seasons at Shippensburg after her freshman season at Colgate.
SINGLE-SEASON NOTES:
Myers finished 2024 ranked second in SU single-season history in hits (95) and third in single-season runs (56).
Lindsay finished 2024 ranked second in SU single-season history in home runs (17) and fifth in single-season RBI (55).
Martell finished 2024 ranked second in SU single-season history in runs (58), tied for seventh in single-season home runs (11) and eighth in single-season RBI (49). Her 155 assists are the most by a Raider in single season in school history.
REGIONAL NOTES:
Martell was 10-for-19 (.526) in the five games of the regional tournament with four RBI, two doubles and four runs scored. She will enter the 2025 season on a 20-game hitting streak.
Myers was 8-for-18 (.444) in the regional with eight singles, two walks, a hit-by-pitch, an RBI and five runs scored.
Emilee Sullivan hit .438 (7-for-16) in the regional with four RBI, a sacrifice bunt and two runs scored.
Lindsay reached base 11 times in the regional, hitting .385 (5-for-13) with five singles, five walks and a hit-by-pitch to complement two RBI and two runs.
Sabocsik had a team-high five RBI in the regional and reached base seven times (two singles, a double, four walks).
Ball threw 26 of SU's 33 innings in the regional, posting a 3.23 ERA (12 earned runs allowed). She walked 11 and struck out 10. Leber pitched 4.1 shutout innings and a win against Bowie State.
Shippensburg batted .345 as a team while opponents batted just .264. SU out-scored the opposition 27-16 and struck out just six times in 139 at-bats while drawing 18 walks and stealing five bases. The Raiders did leave 43 runners on base over the course of the five games.
