Gallery: (5-7-2026) 2026 PSAC Softball vs. IUP
BINGHAMTON, N.Y. – The Shippensburg University softball team scored five runs in the final two innings Thursday to win a back-and-forth game against West No. 1 seed IUP on Day 2 of the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Tournament, defeating the Crimson Hawks 11-7 on a sunny day at Grand Slam Park.
The meeting between the two top offenses in the PSAC did not disappoint, as the game featured 26 hits. Shippensburg (36-16) totaled 14 hits and plated 11 runs, while IUP (36-18) recorded 12 hits on seven runs.
The game consisted of four ties; the only inning that neither team scored a run was the second. SU trailed twice but overcame both deficits for the win.
The Raider offense was led by
Lindsey Haser and
Rilee Ehrlacher. Haser went 3-for-4 at the plate and totaled three RBIs. Ehrlacher went 3-for-5 with a double and two singles.
Hayward pitched all seven innings in the circle for SU to earn the win, striking out nine batters while allowing 12 hits and walking three.
The Raiders got on the board quick in the top of the first inning after a solo home run from
Leah Schwalm. This marked her third home run of the season.
The Crimson Hawks nearly scored in the bottom of the first after recording back-to-back singles. A walk made the bases loaded with two outs. The Raider defense kept the Crimson Hawks scoreless with a fielder's choice play.
Gianna Cimino led off with a single in the top of the second and
Brie Wilmot reached base after a walk to put two on for SU. A pair of flyouts ended the inning.
Hayward struck out the side in the bottom of the second to maintain a 1-0 lead.
Caitlyn Martell recorded a leadoff double in the top of the third and reached third after a fly out. A pop up and a strikeout ended the inning to keep the score 1-0.
IUP saw their first lead of the day come in the bottom of the third inning. Two singles and a hit by pitch made the bases loaded with one out. A single from Emily Miller scored two runs to make it 2-1. The last run of the inning came from an RBI groundout, 3-1.
The Raiders answered right back in the top of the fourth. Ehrlacher led off with a single followed by
Emilee Sullivan and
Sarah Sabocsik drawing walks to load the bases. Martell notched an RBI single to cut the deficit to one, 3-2. A wild pitch scored Sullivan to tie the game. Schwalm put the Raiders back in the lead with an RBI groundout, 4-3.
IUP found an answer in the bottom of the fourth to tie the game again. A walk and a single put two runners on for the Crimson Hawks. Jaycee Haidze hit an RBI single to make it 4-4. After a walk, the bases were again loaded but a fielder's choice play got SU out of the inning.
Haser started the top of the fifth inning with a single and advanced from a sacrifice bunt by Cimino. Ehrlacher singled to put runners on the corners. Sullivan brought both runners home with a single to put SU back in the lead, 6-4.
The Crimson Hawks regained the lead in the bottom of the fifth inning, scoring three runs with two outs. Three straight singles scored the first run of the inning. IUP took advantage of an SU error to tie the game at six, and an RBI single from Haidze gave the Crimson Hawks the lead once again at 7-6.
Schwalm started the sixth inning with a double. Two batters later, Haser recorded an RBI-single to score Schwalm to tie the game at seven. The Raiders had another runner on with just one out, but the Crimson Hawk defense ended the inning with a double play.
The Raiders broke open the game in the top of the seventh, scoring four runs. Ehrlacher started the rally with a double. Wilmot reached base after an IUP error and Sullivan drew her second walk of the day to load the bases with nobody out. Sabocsik recorded the 100th RBI of her career with a single to left field to put SU ahead 8-7.
With the bases again loaded, Schwalm drew a one-out walk (IUP's third walk of the inning) to score a run and make it 9-7. Haser delivered a two-run single to left field to make it 11-7.
The Raiders retired three straight Crimson Hawks in the bottom of the seventh. Hayward started the inning with a strikeout before getting the final two outs from a pair of ground outs.
It was the third meeting of the season between Shippensburg and IUP; the two teams split a doubleheader at Robb Sports Complex on March 6 in which each team run-ruled the other.
It was also the third straight season in which the two teams met in the PSAC Tournament – the Crimson Hawks won last season, 6-3, while the Raiders were triumphant in 2024, 9-5.
Shippensburg will be back in action at 10 a.m. against Eastern Division No. 3 seed East Stroudsburg in a winner's bracket game to begin Friday. SU and ESU are currently the Top 2 teams in the NCAA Atlantic Regional Rankings.
It will be the fifth meeting between the two teams this season (SU won three of the four during the regular season).
Overall, it will be the 16th meeting between the two teams since the start of the 2024 season but the first time that two teams are facing off in the PSAC Tournament in that span (SU went 4-1 vs. ESU in 2024, SU went 4-2 vs. ESU in 2025).
