Kutztown Site Headquarters
California (Pa.) Site Headquarters
Lock Haven Site Headquarters
Top seeds and hosts California (Pa.), Kutztown and Lock Haven each won their respective games on Friday on the first day of the PSAC softball tournament and by doing so, moved to within one win of advancing to next weekend's finals. All three will take on the No. 2 seeds in their respective pools tomorrow needing just one win apiece to advance.
California will take on Bloomsburg, Kutztown will play Edinboro, and Lock Haven will square off with Shippensburg tomorrow. Bloomsburg, Edinboro and Shippensburg are all the No. 2 seeds in their respective pools. All three of them lost to the respective No. 1 seeds in the second game of each pool today and into order to win their respective pool tomorrow, will need to win two games, while the top seeds need to win just one.
At Kutztown, Pa.
Game 1 - Edinboro 4, Mansfield 3 (9)
Trailing 3-1 and down to its final two outs, Edinboro scored two runs in the top of the seventh inning on a two-run home run by Jen Sparachane to tie the game 3-3 and then got a two-out, RBI single in the top of the ninth by Dana Webb to defeat Mansfield 4-3. Beth Mullins picked up the win on the mound for Edinboro, allowing five hits and three runs while striking out eight in a complete game performance.
Mansfield got a two-run homer by Nicole Yost in the third inning to go ahead 2-1 and then stretched the lead to 3-1 in the fourth. But Mullins did not allow a run for the remainder of the game, working out of a pair of jams that included stranding a runner at third twice. Brittany Price and Jade Thrower each went 2-for-4 for the Fighting Scots while Janelle Antes went 2-for-5 for the Mountaineers.
Game 2 - Kutztown 4, Edinboro 3 (8)
After coming within two outs of losing in their first game before rallying to tie the game and then win in extra innings, Edinboro had Kutztown do the same thing to them in the second game of the day, as the Golden Bears scored the tying run with one out in the bottom of the seventh on a sacrifice fly by Heather Hannum. The Bears then won it in the bottom of the eighth on a game-winning, game-ending home run by Steph Denlinger, the NCAA's all-time home run leader in Division II.
Katlin Arbogast struck out 10, walked one and allowed five hits in eight innings to pick up the win. Jen Sparachane went the first seven innings for Edinboro, allowing eight hits and three runs. Beth Mullins, the winner in the first game, came on in the eighth and after getting the first out, yielded the winning shot by Denlinger. Kutztown got back-to-back home runs by Ashley Fitzgerald and Krista Cameron in the third inning to take a 2-0 lead. Edinboro got another round-tripper from Sparachane in the fifth and an RBI triple from Dana Webb in the sixth, later taking the lead. Webb went 3-for-4 for the Fighting Scots. Fitzgerald went 2-for-2 for the Bears.
Game 3 - Edinboro 9, Mansfield 1 (5) (Mansfield Eliminated)
Playing its third game of the day, Edinboro put up a seven-run third inning and never looked back, eliminating Mansfield with a 9-1 victory in five innings. Mullins got her third decision of the afternoon, going five innings and allowing three hits and one run, striking out two and walking none. Edinboro got home runs from Webb and Aimee Sisson, both coming in the seven-run third. Both Webb and Sisson as well as Krista Bradley all knocked in two runs apiece.
Saturday's Schedule
Edinboro vs. Kutztown, 11:00 a.m.
Edinboro vs. Kutztown (if necessary), 1:00 p.m.
At Lock Haven, Pa.
Game 1 - Shippensburg 3, Slippery Rock 2
After Slippery Rock scored two runs in the top of the seventh inning to take a 2-1 lead, Shippensburg answered right back with two runs in the bottom of the seventh to walk off the field with a 3-2 win. Moira Johnsen won it for the Raiders with a sacrifice fly to score Dana Ward in the seventh.
Lori Knopf got the win for the Raiders, allowing eight hits and two runs in seven innings. She stuck out seven and walked two. She also got the seventh inning started for Shippensburg with a leadoff single and after a bunt single by Ward, scored on a single by Chelsea Carson. Ward then later scored on Johnsen's sac fly.
Slippery Rock had scored its two runs in the top of the seventh on a two-out, two-run double by Jessica Kortz, which followed a single and a walk after Knopf had retired the first two hitters of the inning. Kortz went 2-for-4 and Courtney Vincent went 3-for-4 for The Rock, which outhit Shippensburg 8-5.
Game 2 - Lock Haven 7, Shippensburg 0
Lock Haven received a two-hit, complete game shutout from Kristin Erb, the NCAA's all-time wins leader in Division II en route to a 7-0 win over Shippensburg. Erb struck out 13 and walked just one, retiring the first 12 hitters of the game. Lock Haven scored all seven of its run in the first four innings.
Sarah Norris went 3-for-5 with two runs and an RBI while Ilia Lopez hit a three-run homer in the fourth inning for the Lady Eagles, who also got solo home runs from Amanda Gutmaker and Brittany Muthard.
Game 3 - Shippensburg 11, Slippery Rock 5 (Slippery Rock Eliminated)
Five Lady Raiders had two hits apiece while Courtney Steele had three RBI and Jill Mullan had two RBI to lead Shippensburg to an 11-5 win over Slippery Rock in the third game of the day for the Lady Raiders. The top four hitters in the Shippensburg order went a combined 8-for-16 with seven RBI.
The Rock held a 5-3 lead after five innings but Shippesburg scored four in the sixth and four in the seventh to run away with the game. Courtney Vincent went 4-for-4 for The Rock. Lori Knopf picked up the win in relief for Shippensburg, going 2.2 innings and allowing three hits and one unearned run.
Saturday's Schedule
Shippensburg vs. Lock Haven, 1:00 p.m.
Shippensburg vs. Lock Haven (if necessary), 3:00 p.m.
At California, Pa.
Game 1 - Bloomsburg 1, East Stroudsburg 0
Bloomsburg scored a single first inning run and then rode a complete game four-hit shutout by Tara Reed to defeat East Stroudsburg 1-0. Reed walked two and struck out 12 to outdual East Stroudsburg's Jennifer Bensinger, who allowed five hits and just one run in six innings.
Danielle Lazorka went 2-for-3 for the Huskies and scored the only run of the game, the only player to collect more than one hit on either team. She doubled to lead off the game, went to third on a sacrifice and later scored on an RBI single by Nikki Shiko. Reed worked out of a couple of jams for Bloomsburg to keep the game scoreless, which included a runner being thrown out at the plate in the sixth and at third in the seventh.
Game 2 - California 2, Bloomsburg 0
California got 6.2 scoreless innings from Maria Greco and Sonia Petrosoniak came on to get the final out and a save and Cal put up single runs in the second and fifth innings to take a 2-0 victory from the Huskies.
Greco allowed four hits, walked one and struck out six in her 6.2 innings. She loaded the bases with two outs in the seventh and Petrosoniak came on to get a groundout to short to end the game and preserve the win for the Vulcans. Cal got a solo home run from Julia Mueller in the second and then an infield RBI single by Kayleigh Braim in the fifth to account for their two runs. Merissa Daley went 2-for-3 for the Vulcans while Emily Young went 2-for-3 for Bloomsburg.
Game 3 - Bloomsburg 2, East Stroudsburg 1 (8) (East Stroudsburg Eliminated)
Both Bloomsburg and East Stroudsburg scored a run apiece in the first inning and then traded zeros for the next six frames, leading to extra innings. The Huskies then got a game-winning single from Mandy Koch in the bottom of the eighth to advance to tomorrow and eliminate the Warriors.
Rachel Gieringer hit a two-out solo home run in the top of the first for East Stroudsburg off Bloomsburg hurler Tara Reed, who was lifted to start the second in favor of Shavaun Fisher. Fisher threw the final seven innings, allowing five hits, no runs and no walks while striking out nine to earn the victory.
Reed doubled home Lazorka in the bottom of the first to tie the game. In the bottom of the eighth, Bloomsburg loaded the bases with one out but had Casey Massamini, who had reached on an error to start the inning, thrown out at the plate on a force play for the second out of the inning. Koch then singled in the game-winning run.
Saturday's Schedule
Bloomsburg vs. California (Pa.), 1:00 p.m.
Bloomsburg vs. California (Pa.) (if necessary), 3:00 p.m.