Shippensburg to Face Kutztown in Opening Round of PSAC Baseball Championship
Apr. 30, 2007
SHIPPENSBURG, Pa. - After finishing with a 13-7 record and in third-place in the PSAC Western Division, the Shippensburg baseball team earned its fifth-straight PSAC Baseball Championship appearance and will be looking for its first title since 2003. The 2007 conference tournament will be held at Slippery Rock's Jack Critchfield Park May 2-5.
Tickets can be purchased at the gate, and day passes are $7 for adults and $2 for students. Students of PSAC member institutions with valid I.D., will be admitted free of a charge. There are NO complimentary tickets, but PSAC passes will be honored.
This year's appearance will be Shippensburg's 24th since the tournament started in 1971. During that span, the Red Raiders have totaled nine PSAC championships, adding to the program's total of 15. Shippensburg, however, will be looking to put together a run this season, as it has not reached the title game since 2003.
First-year head coach Matt Jones has plenty of tournament success in his career. At Division III Elizabethtown, he led the Blue Jays to three Commonwealth Conference championships and five title game appearances in his seven seasons.
But if Shippensburg is to advance in the tournament, it must first dispatch PSAC Eastern Division champion and the No. 1-ranked team in Division II in Kutztown. The Golden Bears are an impressive 43-3 and have won 13 games in a row heading into the tournament.
The Red Raiders, who finished 23-21 overall, was edged 2-1 by Kutztown in their only meeting this season back on April 11. The two teams also had a game scheduled for Tuesday, April 17 at Kutztown rained out.
Shippensburg and Kutztown are scheduled to meet Thursday morning at 9:00 a.m. In other tournament action, Slippery Rock, the No. 2-seed from the Western Division opens the conference championship against West Chester, the No. 2-seed from the Eastern Division, on Wednesday at 4:00 p.m.
A Shippensburg win would send the Red Raiders to Thursday night where they would play against the loser of the California (Pa.) (No. 1-seed from the Western Division) and East Stroudsburg (No. 3-seed from Eastern Division) game at 6:00 p.m. California (Pa.) and East Stroudsburg play Wednesday night at 7:00 p.m.
Should Shippensburg drops its opening game, it will play at 3:00 p.m., on Thursday. For a complete 2007 PSAC Baseball Championship schedule, click here.
All tournament games will be broadcast live on the Internet courtesy of the MSA Sports Network. To listen to the games, visit the tournament web site and click on the listen live link next to the listed game. The tournament web site will also provide box scores following each game.
- Red Raider Baseball -
