Lady Raiders Win Seventh-Straight, Move Into First-Place in PSAC East
Apr. 12, 2006
SHIPPENSBURG, Pa. - Freshman Lori Knopf (Crown Point, Ind./Andrean) had a two-run homer in game one as the No. 14-ranked Shippensburg softball team won its seventh-straight game and 22 out of the last 26 with a doubleheader sweep of Mansfield on Wednesday at Robb Field, 6-0 and 2-1.
With their two wins, the Lady Raiders (27-11, 8-2 PSAC East) moved into a first-place tie with Bloomsburg in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Eastern Division standings. Also on Wednesday, the NCAA Division II Softball Committee released its second set of regional rankings, ranking Bloomsburg second and Shippensburg third behind Lock Haven.
Knopf's home run was the first of the year at Robb Field in eight games as the Lady Raiders totaled six runs on 12 hits. Five players had at least two hits for Shippensburg in game one led by freshman Rachelle Wedell (Baltimore, Md./Northeast) who was 3-for-4 with three RBI.
Knopf finished 2-for-4 with two RBI while junior Heather Chantiles (Harrisburg, Pa./Central Dauphin) was 2-for-4 in game one with an RBI-single in the fifth.
Shippensburg led 1-0 after one inning on an RBI-single by Wedell and 4-0 after three following a three-run third highlighted by Knopf's two-run homer to center field.
Meanwhile, senior Kelley Tiesi (Baltimore, Md./Catholic School of Baltimore) was brilliant in the circle for the Lady Raiders, holding the Mountaineers to just three hits while striking out 13, raising her career total to 955 while picking up her 90th career win.
Mansfield (16-11, 2-8 PSAC East) took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning of game two Shana Markwis scored an unearned run on a single down the left field line by Jen Probst.
The Mountaineers would hold its one-run lead until the bottom of the third when freshman Chelsea Carson (Shippensburg, Pa./Shippensburg) was hit by a pitch and was sacrificed to second on a bunt by Chantiles. Senior Kristen Marll (Severn, Md./Archbishop Spalding) followed with a single up the middle to score Carson.
With the score tied at 1-1 in the sixth, Caron returned the favor when she sacrificed sophomore Liz Good (Croydon, Pa./Truman) to second on a bunt for the first out. Good was pinch running for freshman Krystal Shannon (Portland, Maine/South Portland) who led off the inning with a single to left.
Chantiles then drove in Good with a single through the right side that went just underneath the second baseman's glove.
With a one-run lead, sophomore Danielle Shields (Laurel, Del./Sussex Tech) slammed the door on the Mountaineers in the sixth and seventh, retiring six of the eight batters she faced, including two of the last four by strike out. She totaled seven strikeouts in earning her 10th win of the season while surrendering only five hits and one unearned run.
Marll totaled two of the Lady Raiders' six hits in game two, going 2-for-3 with one RBI while Chantiles was 1-for-2 with the game-winning RBI to extend her hitting streak to five games. During that time, Chantiles is hitting .667 (12-for-18). With 14 regular-season games remaining, she has 65 hits, 13 shy of the single-season record set by Jaime Dacey last year at 78.
Shippensburg travels to PSAC Eastern Division rival Millersville on Friday for a doubleheader at 4:00 p.m. The Marauders are currently in third-place in the Eastern Division standings with a conference record of 6-4.
- Lady Raider Softball -
