Shippensburg University Softball Update: Lady Raiders to Host NCAA Division II Regional Tournament, Shippensburg No. 1 Seed

May 9, 2005

SHIPPENSBURG, Pa. - After wrapping up their third consecutive Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Championship, the Shippensburg University women’s softball team will look for its third consecutive NCAA Division II Mid-Atlantic Region Tournament as the No. 1 seed and host institution. The tournament begins on Thursday, May 12. More details will be available as they are announced.

TOURNAMENT HISTORY: Shippensburg is making its fourth straight and ninth overall appearance in the regional tournament. The Lady Raiders are the two-time defending champions, and are hosting for the third straight year after earning an automatic bid to the tournament as the PSAC Champions. In six games in the past two regional tournaments, Shippensburg has outscored its opponents 30-4.

THE COMPETITION: Some familiar foes return to Robb Sports Complex on Thursday, as five of the six teams that participated in the PSAC tournament will be returning for the regional tournament. Shippensburg is ranked at No. 1, while Lock Haven (33-8) is ranked at No. 2. Both teams receive a bye in the first round. Playing in the first game of the tournament is No. 4 seed Indiana (Pa.) (22-15) and No. 5 seed Kutztown (27-22), while No. 3 Bloomsburg (40-8) and No. 6 Elizabeth City State (16-12), which earned an automatic berth by virtue of winning the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA) Championship, face off in the second game. Of the six teams in the tournament, Shippensburg has gone 9-0 against the teams from the PSAC, facing each team at least once. The Lady Raiders have not faced Elizabeth City State this season.

NATIONAL RANKINGS: For the third straight week, Shippensburg is ranked at No. 5 in the latest National Fast Pitch Coaches Association (NFCA) Division II poll, released on May 1. Leading the way is No. 1 Northern Kentucky (46-0), while Humboldt State (59-3)is at No. 2. West Florida (53-3) and Kennesaw State (48-10) round out the top five at No. 3 and No. 4 respectively. Teams from the region in the poll include Lock Haven at No. 14 and Bloomsburg at No. 18.

PSAC CHAMPIONS: The Lady Raiders went 3-0 to win their third consecutive PSAC Championship. Shippensburg received a bye in the first round, and defeated Indiana (Pa.) 10-2 in six innings in its first game of the tournament. In one of the most exciting games of the tournament, the team took on Lock Haven and came away with a 1-0 win in 10 innings to move into the championship game. Shippensburg defeated Bloomsburg 7-0 in the championship game.

40 WIN SEASON: With the conference championship, Shippensburg wrapped up its second consecutive 40-win season. The Lady Raiders went 48-6 last year, finishing the season third in the country at the national championships. There have been three other occasions where the team has had 40-wins in its 28 year history, 1999 (42-16), 1998 (41-8) and 1995 (42-15).

REGULAR SEASON CONFERENCE CHAMPIONS: With a conference record of 20-2, Shippensburg claimed its second consecutive PSAC East regular season championship. The team swept at least one doubleheader contest with each of the six PSAC East teams, with its only losses coming in a 4-1 loss to Mansfield, and a 1-0 loss to East Stroudsburg. Shippensburg played each team in the conference twice except Bloomsburg.

SOLID VICTORIES: Shippensburg is winning games by over nearly seven runs per game. Of the Lady Raiders’ 40 victories, six have been decided by one run, while five games were decided by two runs. Shippensburg has won 27 games by four runs or more. Only one game has gone into extra innings, while 12 games have been decided in five innings.

EXPERIENCE COUNTS: Ten seniors grace the Lady Raider roster. In four years, the ten seniors have led the Lady Raider softball team to a record of 160-42 in four years, with two consecutive national championship appearances, three PSAC Championships, and four NCAA Regional tournaments.

TOP RANKED HITTING AND PITCHING: Shippensburg’s bats continue to be hot, leading the country with a .384 batting average through May 1. As a team, the Lady Raiders are fourth in the nation in win-loss percentage (0.93) and fifth in the country in scoring, averaging 7.6 runs per game. Shippensburg is also eighth with a team ERA of 1.07.

DACEY CONTINUES TO LEAD THE NATION: Jaime Dacey continues to lead the country with a .556 batting average. Only six players in the country are batting over .500, and she is one of only two players in that group that have over 100 at bats. She is also ranked in the top ten in the country in RBIs per game (6th, 1.33 RBIs per game), and triples per game (3nd, 0.26). Dacey leads the team in hits (74), slugging percentage (.880), RBIs (57), triples (11), runs scored (51) and stolen bases (9).

AT THE PLATE: In addition to Dacey, Liz Corr and Sarah Costa are ranked 16th and 21th in the country in batting average, with Liz Corr batting .469, while Costa is hitting .458. Liz Corr has 67 hits, and is averaging 1.03 runs per game. Costa is in the top five in the conference in slugging percentage (.786), on base percentage (.532), hits (60), runs batted in (49), and total bases (103).

SHIELDS NAMED MVP: Freshman Danielle Shields pitched 17 consecutive scoreless innings en route to being named Most Valuable Player of the PSAC tournament. She totaled a 2-0 record and 21 strikeouts, winning games against Lock Haven and Bloomsburg to lead the Lady Raiders to the championship. For the year, she has a 13-1 record with a 1.07 earned run average and 131 strikeouts.

TIESI TOPS THE STAFF: Junior Kelley Tiesi continues to pace the Shippensburg pitching staff after sitting out two games of the PSAC tournament. She has a 0.64 ERA (ranked 7th in the country) in 130.1 innings. In addition, Tiesi has 171 strikeouts. For her career, she has a record of 73-9 in three years. The school record for career victories is 76, set by Andrea Smith from 1997-99.

ZEROS ON THE BOARD: Shippensburg has won 19 games by shutout. There have been only two games this year where Shippensburg has allowed more than four runs (9 vs. Catawba College, 7 vs. East Stroudsburg).

RECORDS AND MILESTONES: Liz Corr, Sarah Costa and Jaime Dacey have continued their assault on the record books. Following is a list of players who have broken Shippensburg records this season. In addition, Dacey needs three hits to break the single season record for hits.

Liz Corr
Career Hits: 276; broke old record of 249 with a 2-for-4 game against Shepherd on April 3.
Career Runs: 164; broke old record of 154 with two runs scored on April 13 against Kutztown.
Career At-Bats: 689; broke old record of 669 with eight at-bats on April 19 against Millersville.

Sarah Costa
Career RBIs: 149; broke old record of 129 against West Chester on March 26, with 7 RBIs in a game.
Career Doubles: 54; broke old record of 47 on March 8 against Findlay.

Jaime Dacey
Career Triples: 23; broke old record of 19 against East Stroudsburg on April 1.
Career RBIs: 155; broke old record of 129 against Mansfield on March 30.
Single Season Triples: 11; broke old record of 9 against West Chester on April 9.
Single Season RBIs: 57; broke old record of 52 April 19 against Millersville.

- Lady Raider Softball -