Tiesi, Marll Conclude Careers in Fourth-Straight Region Championship
May 14, 2006
SHIPPENSBURG, Pa. - An RBI-triple by Ilia Lopez with no outs in the top of the seventh gave No. 5-ranked Lock Haven its second one run victory over No. 21 Shippensburg in three meetings this season as the Lady Eagles advanced to the championship of the NCAA Division II Mid-Atlantic Region Championship at Shippensburg's Robb Field on Sunday.
Julie Robitaille drew a lead-off walk before Nancy O'Connor was inserted as a pinch runner before Lopez's triple down the right field line. Lock Haven (50-4), owners of the best record in Division II this season, will play Bloomsburg at 11:00 a.m., on Monday to decide the Mid-Atlantic Region champion and secure a berth into the NCAA Division II championship in Salem, Virginia next week.
The loss ended an upstart season for Shippensburg (42-20) who, with a total of eight freshmen and six sophomores out of 19 total players, won at least 40 games for the third-straight year.
The Lady Raiders were held without a hit by Lock Haven's Kristin Erb, who won her 30th game in her first collegiate season. She limited Shippensburg to only two base runners as a result of a walk to junior Katie Heatley (York, Pa./Dallastown) to lead-off the bottom of the third and an error in the fourth.
The loss also signaled the end of the careers of seniors Kelley Tiesi (Baltimore, Md./Catholic School of Baltimore) and Kristen Marll (Severn, Md./Archbishop Spalding).
Tiesi recorded the 91st complete game of her career in her 110th start, totaling seven innings while scattering six hits and striking out 11. In three meetings against the Lady Eagles this season, Tiesi totaled 21.0 innings, allowed 17 hits and six earned runs while striking out 32 against the top offensive team in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC).
Tiesi finishes a storybook career as not only one of the greatest players in school history, but also in Division II history. She concludes her career ranked in the top-10 in Division II history in career strikeouts (1,095), strikeout ratio (9.9), earned run average (0.62) and saves (11).
Tiesi also holds the school records in all four categories, plus games (136), games started (110), complete games (91), innings (777.0), victories (99), winning percentage (.839) and shutouts (51).
With 99 victories, Tiesi ranks 14th all-time in Division II while her winning percentage is 17th, shutouts are 11th and games are tied for 26th. Her 38 games this season tied the mark she set as a sophomore in 2004 which are the second most in a single-season in school history while her 25 victories are fourth in a single-season.
Meanwhile, Tiesi's 242.1 innings pitched this season set a new school record as did her 369 strikeouts.
As for Marll, she concludes her best offensive season as a Lady Raider. She batted a career-high .297 this year, while also totaling career-highs in games with 60, all starts, hits (55), runs (29), stolen bases (9) and on-base percentage (.373). She was a perfect 9-for-9 in stolen bases this season and totaled four of her seven career doubles.
Marll finished her career hitting .254 in 164 games with 148 starts, 106 hits, 40 RBI, 75 runs and 15 stolen bases.
Also for Shippensburg this season, junior Heather Chantiles (Harrisburg, Pa./Central Dauphin) shattered the single-season school record for hits, surpassing the old mark of 78 set by Jaime Dacey in 2005 with 112. Her total also places her fourth in Division II single-season history, one behind Lisa Erickson of Cal St. Northridge in third.
Chantiles finished this year with 17 stolen bases which was the second highest total in school history while batting .489, placing her second behind Dacey's total of .549 set a year ago. Chantiles also scored 50 runs, 22-percent of the team's total, to rank third on the school's single-season list, tying her with Liz Corr who also scored 50 in 2004.
- Lady Raider Softball -
