INDIANA, Pa. – Coming off a sweep of Edinboro, the IUP softball team (13-9, 6-0 PSAC West) travels to play a pair of double headers against Gannon (11-9, 3-1) on Friday and Shippensburg (20-12, 4-2) on Saturday. The Crimson Hawks travel to Erie on Friday with a first pitch scheduled for 2:30 p.m. First pitch Saturday at Shippensburg is scheduled for 1 p.m.
Last Time Out
>> The Crimson Hawks swept the doubleheader against Edinboro on Apirl 10. IUP took the first game 7-3 and the second game 4-3.
>> Freshman
Bella Bucy entered in relief in the 1st inning of the first game to only allow 1 run in 7.0 innings earning her 3rd win of the season.
>>
Jenna Rhue hit 2 homeruns over the double header totaling 4 RBIs.
>>
Elizabeth Kasper enterned in relief to shutout Edinboro with 4 strikeouts.
Series notes
>> IUP shutout Shippensburg February 24, 8-0.
Jordan Sylvia had 2 hits and 3 RBIs.
Bella Bucy only gave up 5 hits over all 5 innings.
>> IUP trails Shippensburg 8-56 since 2011.
>> IUP trails Gannon 8-12 all time. Last season Gannon won both double headers.
Matchup notes
>> The Golden Knights rank 2nd in the PSAC with a ERA of 1.92. Shippensburg is 5th with 2.86 ERA.
>> The Raiders are 5th in the PSAC with a .308 batting average and 8th with a .455 slugging percentage.
>> In the PSAC The Golden Knights rank 17th in both batting average (.238) and slugging percentage (.339).
>> The Golden Knights have 2 pitchers in the top 10 of the PSAC in ERA. Kennedy DeMatteis (1.62) and Gabi Vasi (1.86)
>> Shippensburg features Hannah Marsteller who ranks 2nd in the PSAC with a .485 batting average logging 50 hits in 103 at bats and leads in conference in home runs (32).
>> Shippensburg also has Alicia Ball who ranks 4th in the PSAC with a 1.39 ERA.
Rhue having career season
>>
Jenna Rhue is one of the top sluggers in Division II, ranking 4th in HR/game (.45), 13th in slugging percentage (.873), and 10th in RBI/game (1.27).
>> She leads the PSAC in HR/game and RBI/game, and is 2nd in slugging and total homers (32).
>> She's averaging a home run every 7.1 at-bats, which is ahead of the current IUP single season record set by
Kaitlyn Beers (8.7) last year.
>> Rhue is hitting .380 on the year with six multi-hit games, including three games with 3+ hits.
>> She was a All-PSAC Central selection as catcher her freshman year (2019). Last season she suffered through mid-season injury, only playing in 20 games with 19 starts last season.
Speed to burn
>> The Crimson Hawks have 41 stolen bases in 48 attempts this season, a percentage of .935.
>> Joelle Synder is perfect this year stealing 12 of 12. Freshman
Allyssa Schmidt ranks second on the team with 11 steals.
>> IUP has more than doubled its pace from last year when the Hawks stole 25 bases in 32 games.
Hitters, hitters, hitters
>> IUP has six players hitting over .300, including Joelle Synder who has above a .400 batting average.
>>
Haleigh Zimmerman recently returned to the lineup and is hitting .353, with 7 of her twelve hits going for extra bases.
>> Other top hitters are all newcomers -
Jordan Sylvia at .339,
Joelle Snyder at .403, and
Sara Tailford at .378.
Bullpen comes out strong
>> Over the last 4 games,
Bella Bucy and
Elizabeth Kasper have a 0.53 ERA when coming out of the bullpen.
>>
Bella Bucy and
Elizabeth Kasper have given up 1 run in 13.3 innings out of the pen.
>> Over these 4 games the pair have combined for 11 strikes outs and have only given up 4 hits in 46 at bats.
