QUAKERTOWN, Pa. - The IUP softball team dropped its first game of the 2022 PSAC Championship on Wednesday, as Shepherd dominated 11-3 in five innings. 

The Crimson Hawks now fall to the loser's bracket where they will play East Stroudsburg or Kutztown on Thursday at 10 a.m. The double elimination tournament had a late start to its opening day, as rain pushed IUP's originally scheduled 10 a.m. game with Shepherd back to 2 p.m. 

The Hawks (16-20) scored a run in each of the first two innings, as Renee Wall singled down the left field line to bring home Joelle Snyder for the game's first run. Snyder led off the game with a single then promptly stole second. She moved to third on a bunt single by Jordan Sylvia before coming home on Wall's hit. 

After Shepherd scored three runs in the bottom of the first, Haleigh Zimmerman led off the second with a single then moved to second on a sac bunt by Allyssa Schmidt. Two batters later Zimmerman scored from third on a single by Sara Tailford. Snyder followed with a double but with two IUP runners in scoring position, Shepherd got Sylvia to pop up for the third out.

Shepherd scored three more in the second on two home runs in the second, added a run in the third, and then scored four times on five hits in the fifth to end the game early. IUP did score a run in the fourth with a two-out double from Snyder. 

Snyder went 3-for-3 with two doubles, an RBI and a run scored. Megan Fitzgerald and Tailford each had two hits. 

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