Lori Knopf Named PSAC Eastern Division Pitcher of the Week

Apr. 23, 2007

SHIPPENSBURG, Pa. - Sophomore Lori Knopf (Crown Point, Ind./Andrean) is the first Shippensburg softball player to earn conference player of the week honors after she was named PSAC Eastern Division Pitcher of the Week on Monday.

Knopf was extremely instrumental in Shippensburg's 5-3 week that pulled the Lady Raiders to within one game of East Stroudsburg for the third and final playoff spot from the Eastern Division in the 2007 PSAC Softball Championship.

Knopf made three starts inside the circle and posted a 3-0 record with three complete games and a 0.37 ERA. She pitched two shutouts and struck out 18 while allowing only one run over 19.0 innings. She also held the opposition to a .179 batting average as they totaled just 12 hits.

Meanwhile, Knopf also posted the team's second-highest batting average last week, hitting .400 by going 4-for-10 with two doubles.

Against Bloomsburg on Wednesday, Knopf was instrumental in the team's four-run bottom of the seventh inning comeback as she drove in the team's second run with an RBI-single to cut the Bloomsburg lead to 3-2. Her pinch runner then scored the game-winning in a 4-3 victory over the 16th-ranked Huskies.

Then, in game two, Knof almost single-handedly willed the Lady Raiders to victory, throwing a complete-game six-hitter to earn the 2-0 shutout victory. On Friday, she totaled a career-high eight strikeouts in a 9-1 victory over West Chester. And on Sunday, she struck out seven while limiting Mansfield to just two hits in a 2-0 victory.

In her last four appearances, Knopf has totaled 24 strikeouts in 23.0 innings, allowing only 13 hits and one run for a 0.30 ERA. Her last loss came back on April 6 in game one of a doubleheader at West Chester, 5-2.

Shippensburg, who is now just one game behind East Stroudsburg for third-place in the PSAC Eastern Division following the Warriors two losses at Bloomsburg on Sunday, will travel to Mansfield on Tuesday for a doubleheader beginning at 2:30 p.m.

The Lady Raiders host East Stroudsburg on Friday before the Warriors travel to Bloomsburg on Sunday.

- Lady Raider Softball -