QUAKERTOWN, Pa. – With a pair of losses on Wednesday, IUP softball's season came to a close at the 2017 Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Championships at Veterans Park in Quakertown.
The Crimson Hawks fell to Shippensburg 5-4 in eight innings in the afternoon, and dropped a 3-1 elimination game to California at night.
IUP ends its season with a 24-19 overall record, advancing to the PSAC postseason for the fourth straight year and the seventh time in the last eight years.
Lauren Zola (Pittsburgh, Pa./Seton-La Salle) had team-bests of three hits and two runs scored on Wednesday. She started the Shippensburg game in the circle, striking out eight in 6.1 innings of work, giving up four runs on four hits and three walks.
Shippensburg 5, IUP 4 (eight innings)
The Crimson Hawks built a 4-1 lead through four innings against the Shippensburg, striking first with an
Alaina Laverick (Clymer, Pa./Penns Manor) RBI single in the second.
Amanda Parrish (Dysart, Pa./Altoona) homered to center in the third, bringing in
Hannah Mercer (Hollidaysburg, Pa./Hollidaysburg Area), and
Lauren Goetz (Cleveland, Ohio/Cuyahoga Heights) brought home Zola in the fourth with an RBI single.
Shippensburg (27-21) picked up a pair of runs in the fifth on a two-out, two-run home run. The Raiders then tied it up in the seventh on another two-out hit, this time a single to left.
The final run came in the top of the eighth, as Shippensburg homered to lead off the inning.
Cal 3, IUP 1
The Vulcans (22-16) opened up the scoring with a two-out RBI double that scored a pair in the bottom of the second inning.
IUP threatened in the third, putting runners at the corners with two outs, but a fly out stranded both. The Crimson Hawks did get on the board in the fourth, with Zola singling to left and advancing to second on a fielding error. Three batters later,
Kaitlyn Beers (Reynoldsville, Pa./DuBois Area High School) singled through the left side to bring Zola home from third.
Cal picked up an insurance run in the sixth and the IUP offense couldn't accumulate any more base runners as the Vulcans moved on to day two.
Mercer's career comes to a close
Wednesday also closed out the career of one of the best players in IUP history.
Hannah Mercer (Hollidaysburg, Pa./Hollidaysburg Area) wraps up four seasons in the crimson and gray ranking in the top 10 in 12 different career offensive categories, and will most certainly earn her fourth All-PSAC honor next week.
Mercer broke IUP career records with 221 hits, 135 runs scored, 343 total bases, and 624 at-bats. Her 45 doubles ranks second, and is third with 50 stolen bases and 177 games played – all starts. Other top ranks include a .354 batting average (fifth), 11 triples (sixth), 103 RBI (sixth), a .553 slugging percentage (seventh) and 19 home runs (tied for seventh).
No other IUP player owns as many career records, and only four others show up in the top 20 of all 13 career lists – Marissa Dugan, Stefanie McCoy, Jen Rape and Jodie Swavely.
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