Bloomsburg Splits at Opening Day of PSAC Softball Championships

SHIPPENSBURG —The Bloomsburg University softball team split its two games on day one of the 2005 Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) championship tournament. The Huskies beat Cal (PA) 3-1 in the opening game, then lost to Lock Haven in a second round game by a 5-1 score.

In game one of the tournament the Huskies scored single runs in first, third and fourth innings to back the strong pitching of Amanda Smith (Sandy Ridge//Philipsburg-Osceola). Bloomsburg's first run came when Dee Wolfe (Milton/Milton) walked with two outs, moved to second on a single by Sara Roba (Emmaus/Emmaus) and scored on a single by Laurel Koster (Whitney Point, NY/Cicero North).

The Huskies made it 2-0 in the third when Amanda Breon (Bellefonte/Bellefonte) reached on an error and later scored on an RBI single from Wolfe. After Cal cut the lead to 2-1 with a run in the top of the fourth, Tiff Corliss (Lewisburg/Lewisburg) scored for the Huskies on a single by Alyson Taylor (Jersey Shore/Jersey Shore).

Smith then allowed just two singles the rest of the way to earn the win for Bloomsburg, Smith finished with six strikeouts and did not walk a batter.

In the day's second game, Lock Haven started quickly getting a two-run homer from Courtney Hughes in the top of the first inning. The Huskies cut the deficit in half with a solo homer from Breon in the third inning. However, the Lady Eagles added a solo shot of their own from Janet Patterson in the fourth and got two insurance runs in the top of the fourth for a 5-1 lead.

Jaime Wilson (Olyphant/Bishop O'Hara) suffered the loss for Bloomsburg going the first four innings.

Bloomsburg, now 37-7, will face Indiana (PA) at noon on Friday in an elimination game.