Lady Raiders Head to NCAA Regionals, Fall in PSAC Championship Game
May 6, 2006
LOCK HAVEN, Pa. - In
a rematch of the top two pitchers in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference
(PSAC), senior Kelley Tiesi (Baltimore, Md./Catholic School of
Baltimore) struck out six and scattered five hits, but No. 5 Lock Haven edged No.
21 Shippensburg 1-0 on Saturday at Lawrence Field to win its second conference
championship and first since 1982.
The game featured just one run and 11 hits and was scoreless until the
bottom of the sixth when the Lady Eagles' Heather Johnson doubled down
the left field line with two outs to score Courtney Hughes for the only
run of the contest. Meanwhile, Kristin Erb ran her record to a perfect
27-0 by picthing seven scoreless innings and striking out five.
On Thursday, Tiesi and Erb combined to throw seven scoreless innings with
22 strikeouts, 15 of which were from Tiesi, before Lock Haven totaled four
runs in the top of the eighth for a 4-0 victory.
In her two meetings against Lock Haven this week, Tiesi totaled 21 strikeouts
and limited the conference's top offensive team to just 10 hits and five
runs. All totaled, Tiesi and Erb combined for 33 strikeouts and five earned
runs while allowing just 19 hits in 29 innings in the teams' two meetings.
Tiesi now has 1,060 career strikeouts, leaving her 20 behind
Debbie Tidy of Sacred Heart for fifth on the all-time Division II list.
She has 334 on the season, just 11 from her career of 345 set as a sophomore
in 2004.
Much like Thursday's matchup, Shippensburg (40-18) had a chance to score
in the first inning after lead-off singles by junior Heather Chantiles
(Harrisburg, Pa./Central Dauphin) and senior Kristen Marll
(Severn, Md./Archbishop Spalding). The two were then moved to
second and third, respectively, with one out following a ground out by
freshman Rachelle Wedell (Baltimore,
Md./Northeast). However, both runners would be stranded on base
after Erb posted back-to-back strikeouts.
In the fourth, the Lady Raiders had runners on first and second with
one out, but could not hit the ball out of the infield to score either.
Freshman Krystal Shannon (Portland, Maine/South Portland) reached
on a fielder's choice bunt before moving to second after junior Ali Morris (Warrington,
Pa./Central Bucks East) walked.
After a foul out, sophomore Jill Kirby (Glen Mills, Pa./Garnet
Valley),
who was pinch running for Shannon, was then tagged out on a fielder's
choice to end the inning. Shippensburg stranded eight runners on base
in the game,
including six in scoring position.
Of the Lady Raiders' six hits, Chantiles and Marll each went 2-for-4
while Shannon and freshman Lori Knopf (Crown Point, Ind./Andrean) were
both 1-for-3. Five different players had hits for Lock Haven (46-3).
Chantiles now has 105 hits on the season and is ranked seventh
on the all-time Division II list , one behind Chrissa Landwehr of Augustana
(S.D.) who had 106 in 2000. Jennifer Hill of Augustana (S.D.) and Elisa
Bartolo of Florida Tech are tied for fourth with 108.
Shippensburg, who was ranked third in last week's NCAA Division II Mid-Atlantic
Region Poll, should receive its fifth consecutive berth into the Mid-Atlantic
Region Championship on Monday at a site to be announced by the NCAA Division
II Softball Committee.
- Lady Raider Softball -
