Lady Raider Softball Falls to Bloomsburg in Region Championship
May 13, 2006
SHIPPENSBURG, Pa. - A
two-run homer to left field in the top of the fifth inning by Tara Reed
proved to be the game-winning
runs as No. 15 Bloomsburg advanced to the championship game of the NCAA Division
II Mid-Atlantic Region Championship on Saturday with a 2-1 victory over No.
21-ranked Shippensburg at Robb Field.
The Lady Raiders (42-19) will play at 11:00 a.m., on Sunday morning against
Lock Haven after the Lady Eagles edged out California (Pa.), 1-0 in eight
innings on Saturday evening. The winner of that game must defeat Bloomsburg
twice to advance to the NCAA Division
II
Championship
in
Salem,
Virginia
next week.
Reed, who also earned the win in the circle for the Huskies (38-15), went
2-for-4 with two RBI and a run scored. She also pitched 1.2 innings of scoreless
relief, allowing two hits. Ashley Lynn got the start for Bloomsburg before
Reed, who started at shortstop, entered in the bottom of the fourth with
a runner on second and one out.
Freshman Kelly Nelson (Warminster, Pa./William Tennent) sinigled up the middle
to lead off the inning for the Lady Raiders, before sophomore Jill
Kirby (Glen Mills, Pa./Garnet Valley) came on to pinch run. Junior Katie
Heatley (York, Pa./Dallastown) then reached on a fielding error by shortstop Jessica
Rosin who replaced Reed.
Kirby then advanced to third on a wild pitch before Reed got freshman Chantal
Gross (Hannah, Ind./South Central) to strike out looking for the second out.
Enter freshman Chelsea Carson (Shippensburg, Pa./Shippensburg) who was making
just her 24th appearance in her first season with Shippensburg, mostly as
a pinch runner. Carson, who was also making her fourth start of the year,
entered the game with only 10 at bats on the season and two hits, but facing
a full count, she ripped a single into center field to score Kirby and give
the Lady Raiders a 1-0 lead after four.
The lead was short-lived though as the Huskies' Jill Homyak reached on a
fielding error, setting the stage for Reed's homer in the top of the fifth.
Lynn re-entered the game in the bottom of the sixth and retired three of
the four batters she faced, but then had to hang on in the seventh for her
first save of the season. Still trailing by one, Shippensburg got back-to-back
singles from junior Heather Chantiles (Harrisburg, Pa./Central Dauphin) and
senior Kristen Marll (Severn, Md./Arhbishop Spalding) to lead off the inning.
For Chantiles, who went 3-for-4 on the day, it was her 112th hit of the season,
leaving her one shy of Lisa Erickson of Cal St. Northridge on the all-time
Division II single-season list at 113. Through 61 games this season, Chantiles
is batting .496 with over a .500 on-base percentage.
However, the Lady Raiders could not drive in the tying run as Lynn retired
the next three-straight batters she faced. She finished the game with nine
strikeouts and one unearned run in 5.1 innings while surrendering nine hits.
Meanwhile, senior Kelley Tiesi (Baltimore, Md./Catholic School of
Baltimore) went the distance for Shippensburg, totaling 7.0 innings
and five strikeouts to move her into fifth-place on the all-time Division
II career list with
1,084. She is also still one win away from 100 in her career.
- Lady Raider Softball -
