Bloomsburg Wins NCAA Mid-Atlantic Regional Championship

SHIPPENSBURG —The Bloomsburg University softball team defeated the Lady Raiders of Shippensburg 3-1 in game ten of the NCAA Division II Mid-Atlantic Region championships to win the regional title and move on to the NCAA Championships in Salem, Va.

Two runs in the fourth inning was all it took for the Huskies. Kelly Zarski (Danville/Danville) and Dee Wolfe (Milton/Milton) had back-to-back singles to open the fourth inning, Sara Roba (Emmaus/Emmaus) then drew a walk to load the bases. After Laurel Koster (Whitney Point/Cicero North) struck out, Tiff Corliss (Lewisburg/Lewisburg) lifted a sacrifice fly scoring Zarski with the first run. Alyson Taylor (Jersey Shore/Jersey Shore) then reached on an error by the shortstop allowing Wolfe to score the second run.

In the sixth, the Huskies made it 3-0 when Roba led off with a double. After Stef Kline (Sinking Spring/Wilson) came in to pinch run, Koster singled up the middle scoring Kline with Bloomsburg's third run.

Shippensburg cut the lead to 3-1 with a run in the bottom of the sixth inning.

Bloomsburg's Amanda Smith (Sandy Ridge/Philipsburg-Osceola) closed out the game by striking out Shippensburg's Liz Corr. Smith finished the day with nine strikeouts, while walking three.

Offensively, Dee Wolf went 2-for-3 with one run scored. Pitcher Amanda Smith allowed one run on two hits, and struck out nine for the win.

For Shippensburg, Danielle Shields picked up the loss. Liz Corr and Jaime Dacey had the Lady Raiders two hits.

Named MVP of the regional was Amanda Smith. Joining her on the All-Tournament were Dee Wolfe, Kelly Zarski and Sara Roba.

Bloomsburg, 44-8, wins a regional title for the 10th time in school history and for the first time since the 2002 season. The Huskies will play the champion from the North Central Region on Thursday morning at 11 a.m. at the Moyer Sports Complex in Salem, VA.