Shippensburg University’s softball team went 5-1 this past week to close out their regular season play and clinch a spot in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) tournament. 

SU played three sets of double headers. The Raiders swept Mansfield on Tuesday, swept Lock Haven on Friday and traveled to Kutztown on Sunday where they split a pair of games with the Golden Bears. 

Sunday was the team’s last regular season game, and SU will face IUP in the PSAC tournament. The team finished regular-season play with a 30-18 overall record and a 19-13 conference record. 

The Raiders took both games in a home doubleheader on Tuesday against Mansfield. The first game resulted in a 6-2 victory for SU. On the mound, senior Alicia Ball pitched a complete game only giving up two runs on five hits while also striking out two batters. 

On offense, the Raiders scored two runs in the first inning, another two in the fourth and one run in each the fifth and sixth innings. 

During the second game against the Mountaineers, the Raiders posted seven runs to secure the win as freshman Dani Hayward pitched her first of three complete games this past week. In this outing, Hayward gave up four hits, struck out nine batters and produced zero earned runs. 

At the plate, SU posted runs in the second, third and sixth innings. Mansfield’s only run came unearned in the third inning on a sacrifice fly to right field. 

The home games on Friday were pushed up one hour due to rain. Despite the weather, the Raiders continued to give it their all on the field, and they swept their second series of the week against the Lock Haven Bald Eagles. 

In the first match against the Bald Eagles, the game was scoreless until the seventh inning. 

In the top of the seventh, Lock Haven scored the first run. The Raiders immediately answered in the bottom of the inning when junior Emilee Sullivan singled to left field. 

Katelyn Minney replaced Sullivan on the bases as a pinch runner and advanced to second after a bunt from freshman Gianna Cimino. With two outs, junior Caitlyn Martell tripled to right field to tie the game, sending it to extra innings. 

In the top of the eighth, the Bald Eagles failed to score again, but the Raiders continued to fight at the plate in the bottom of the inning. Sophomore Sarah Sabocsik was hit by a pitch at the start of the bottom of the eighth. Following a flyout, back-to-back singles from junior Rilee Ehrlacher and Minney, pinch hitting, loaded the bases. Sullivan retuned to the plate and walked it off with a single to right field, scoring Sabocsik. 

After the game, Sullivan shared how it felt to secure the walk-off win. “I’ve been waiting so long to get a hit and just to do it for my team,” she said. “It felt amazing.”

Friday’s second game was another thriller, as Hayward went six innings without giving up a hit and she also assisted the team on offense. Hayward, herself, produced two hits and had an RBI. Going into the top of the seventh inning, Shippensburg was up 5-0. 

However, Lock Haven had a small spark with its last couple of batters, where they earned one run and three hits resulting in a 5-1 final score.

Hayward said, “I didn’t really care if I got a no-hitter at that point as long as we won the game because I knew that was the most important part.”

Initially scheduled for Saturday, the weather impacted the time of play again. Rain pushed the away doubleheader at Kutztown to Sunday, where Shippensburg lost the first game and won the second. 

In Sunday’s first game, the Raiders lost by one run to the Golden Bears. Kutztown scored two runs in the second inning, holding the Raiders off until the sixth when they put two on the board to tie the game. The tie score did not last long when the Golden Bears answered with the winning run in the bottom of the sixth, resulting in a 3-2 final.

In their last game of the regular season, the Raiders won 3-2 when Hayward pitched her third complete game of the week. 

The Golden Bears scored early again, producing two runs in the first, but Hayward shut them down for the rest of the game. 

The Raiders scored one run in three consecutive innings: the fourth, fifth and sixth. 

Reflecting on the season, head coach Alison Van Scyoc said, “We’ve put a really good season together. For the most part, we have achieved at a really high level, and I’m really proud of where they’re at right now.”

Ending the regular season as the fifth seed in the PSAC East, the Raiders travel to Quakertown on Wednesday for their first game in the PSAC Tournament. 

They will face IUP, the No. 4 seed in the PSAC West. After playing IUP, the team will have its second game in the tournament against an opponent that has yet to be determined. 

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