Mercyhurst Boxscore
Shippensburg Boxscore

Megan McCormick (Evans City/Seneca Valley) drove in five runs as the Crimson Hawks beat Mercyhurst 11-0, and Erin Holloway (Harleysville, Pa./Souderton) pitched a one-hit gem to earn an 8-0 win over host Shippensburg as IUP opened PSAC tournament play with a pair of victories Thursday.

IUP (29-6) will play Shippensburg at 10 a.m. Friday with a win sending the Crimson Hawks into the conference championship round next weekend. The Raiders must defeat IUP twice in order to advance.

Shippensburg (28-12) edged Mercyhurst 2-1 in the other game Thursday to eliminate the Lakers from the tournament.

The IUP bats were alive early in the opener as Dee Eppinger (North Wales, Pa./North Penn) belted a lead-off home run. The Crimson Hawks then struck for five runs in the second keyed by a McCormick two-out double that plated three runs.

McCormick (picture above) belted a two-run homer in the fifth, and Michelle Bivona (Thorndale, Pa./Coatesville) joined the hit parade with a three-run bomb to set the final. Holloway picked up the win, going five innings, allowing three hits and striking out six with two walks.

In the second game Holloway dominated the Shippensburg batters, allowing just one hit while recording 13 of the 15 outs via strikeout and improving her record to 18-3 on the season. She struck out the side in four of the five innings and did not allow a hit until a one-out double by Jenn Deardorff in the final inning.

The Crimson Hawk offense started slow against the Lady Raiders before exploding for five runs in the third inning including two-run singles by Kristen Tunno (Seaford, Va./Grafton) and Raquel Rugani (McKees Rocks, Pa./Montour ) and an RBI base hit by Bivona.

IUP added two runs in the fourth and another in the fifth to invoke the mercy rule.