INDIANA, Pa. – The Crimson Hawks' softball team will head to Quakertown, Pa. for the 2015 Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Championships at Veterans Park this weekend.
The double elimination tournament begins on Thursday morning with the conference champion being crowned on Saturday afternoon.
The Crimson Hawks earned the fourth seed in the Western Division on the final day of the regular season, clinching a spot in the postseason with a doubleheader sweep over Edinboro on Tuesday. IUP finished the regular season with an 18-22 overall record and a 16-14 mark in the division.
IUP enters the postseason as one of the top hitting teams in the PSAC, ranking third in the league with a .328 batting average, 32 home runs and a .494 slugging percentage. The Crimson Hawks are hitting .375 over the last six games (4-2) with 66 hits and are slugging .551.
Third baseman
Hannah Mercer (Hollidaysburg/Hollidaysburg Area) leads the team with a .405 batting average and a .669 slugging percentage, belting eight doubles, three triples and six home runs with 30 runs batted in. Also adding pop to the lineup is
Lauren Hogue (Seneca/Cranberry), who leads the team with 10 doubles and seven home runs and is slugging .656. Second baseman
Rachel Francis (Jefferson, OH/Jefferson) has six home runs while shortstop
Stefanie McCoy (New Paris/Chestnut Ridge) has raked five.
Other leading hitters for IUP include outfielder
Megan Gould (New Germany/Forest Hills) with a .376 average, first baseman
Allison Viguers (West Chester/West Chester East) at .371 and outfielder
Taylor Mercurio (Pittsburgh/Seton-La Salle) at .367. Gould is the speed in the Crimson Hawks' lineup, as she's third in the PSAC with 18 stolen bases.
The leader in the circle for IUP is
Alexa Campbell (Manheim/Manheim Central ), who has appeared in 23 games with 20 starts. She has 15 complete games, 10 wins and a 4.02 ERA. In her last four appearances she has a 2.04 ERA with three complete games and seven earned runs in 24.0 innings pitched.
The Crimson Hawks begin the tournament on Thursday at 11 a.m. against PSAC East Champion West Chester, which finished the regular season with a 38-12 overall record and a 22-6 mark in the division.
For up-to-date game information, visit www.IUPAthletics.com and follow IUP on Twitter @IUPCrimsonHawk.
