Bloomsburg University Softball Seeded 2nd at PSAC Championships

BLOOMSBURG- The Bloomsburg University softball team will be second seed from the eastern division in the 2008 Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Softball Championship, which runs from Thursday, May 1st through Saturday, May 3 at Lock Haven University. The top three teams in the Eastern and Western Divisions will battle in a double-elimination tournament that grants the champion automatic entry into the NCAA tournament.

In the first round, the Huskies will face the number three-seed from the Western Division, IUP. The winner will take on Lock Haven, which has a first round bye.

Bloomsburg finished the regular season with a record of 44-7 overall, 19-5 in the PSAC East, and are making their 25th playoff appearance in the past 26 years. The Huskies began the 2008 season winning 26 of its first 28 games, including an 18-game winning streak. Bloomsburg is aiming for the school's15th PSAC Championship, and its first since the 2002 season.

Bloomsburg's success this season has been powered by seniors Ashley Lynn (Riverside/Danville, Sheelin Fisher (Coplay/Allentown Central Catholic) and junior Tara Reed (Williamsport/Williamsport).

Lynn, who has 67 career victories on the mound, had a spectacular 2008 season, winning 20 games with a 0.94 ERA in her 28 appearances. Her 170 strikeouts rank fourth in the PSAC, and her 18 complete games and seven shutouts are a team-high. She has been named the PSAC Eastern Division pitcher of the week five times during her Husky career, once during the 2008 season. She needs just seven strikeouts to become the school's all-time leader in that category.

Fisher is enjoying the best season of her career, sporting a 15-2 record in 18 appearances, both career-highs. She has 94 strikeouts in only 99 innings of work as well as six shutouts. Her 0.98 ERA is the fourth-best in the PSAC.

Reed has been a catalyst with both her arm and her bat. On the mound, she has an 8-2 record in her 11 appearances this season, nine of them being complete games. She has fanned 87 batters in just 71 innings and carries a 1.08 ERA. At the plate, Reed leads the Huskies with a .423 average with 29 RBI. She ranks second in the PSAC in hits with 71 and is fifth in runs scored with 40.

IUP wrapped up the 2008 campaign with a 16-24 overall record, 12-8 PSAC West. The Crimson Hawks are making their fourth straight league tournament appearance and last appeared in the PSAC championship game in 2001 where they fell to Bloomsburg, 2-1, in eight innings.

Lock Haven earned the right to host the tournament after clinching the Western Division's No. 1 seed, finishing the regular season with a 40-6 overall record, 19-1 PSAC West.

Daily tickets for the tournament are $7 for adults, $2 for students. Students currently enrolled at PSAC member institutions will be admitted free with a valid student ID.

Bloomsburg will play its opening round game at Noon on Thursday vs. IUP. If the Huskies win, they will play at 4:30 p.m. against Lock Haven, while a loss would mean a 10 a.m. game Friday morning against the loser of the East Stroudsburg/California game.