SELINSGROVE, Pa. — After what can only be described as an exciting 2001 regular season, the Susquehanna University softball team begins its quest for its first-ever berth in the NCAA Division III Softball Tournament when the Crusaders travel to Lebanon Valley College for the Commonwealth Conference playoffs on Friday and Saturday, May 4-5.
The Crusaders are the tournament’s top seed after winning the first regular-season title in the program’s 24-year history with a 10-4 record in conference play (16-10-1 overall), and will face the host Flying Dutchwomen in the opening game of the four-team, double-elimination tournament on Friday at 11 a.m.
The teams split a doubleheader in Selinsgrove on April 7, with the Crusaders rallying for a 7-6 victory in nine innings in the opener before Lebanon Valley handed Susquehanna one of only two home losses during the 2001 season by a score of 6-2 in the nightcap.
Second-seed Moravian will battle third-seed Messiah in the other opening-round game on Friday at 1 p.m., with the winners meeting at 3 p.m. on Friday in a winners bracket final. The championship game is scheduled for 1 p.m. on Saturday at Lebanon Valley, with the winner earning an automatic bid to the Division III tournament.
Susquehanna has enjoyed success against the teams in the field, posting a 4-2 record against the other three schools. All of those games were played at the West Softball Field.
The key to the Crusaders’ success during the 2001 season has been the offense, led by junior third baseman Shelly Zimmerman and sophomore left fielder Teresa Ely.
Zimmerman (Denver, Pa./Garden Spot H.S.) has hit safely in 19 consecutive games and is batting .400 overall with three home runs and 18 runs batted in. Through Sunday, Zimmerman was third in the Commonwealth Conference in batting average and tied for fourth in home runs. She leads the team in batting average, hits (36), doubles (3), home runs, runs batted in and slugging percentage (.633). During her hitting streak, Zimmerman has batted .484 (31-for-64).
Ely (Montrose, Pa./Montrose H.S.) has utilized her slap-hitting style to perfection by hitting .385 to rank fourth in the Commonwealth Conference. Though she saw a 17-game hitting streak snapped in game one of Monday’s doubleheader at Wilkes, Ely is second on the team in hits with 35 and second in both slugging percentage (.451) and on-base percentage (.423). She has stolen five bases without being caught to lead the team.
Sophomore second baseman Erin Nittinger (Montoursville, Pa./Montoursville H.S.) has contributed out of the leadoff spot in the lineup, batting .287 with a team-best 20 runs scored. Nittinger has drawn a team-best 15 walks and has made just two errors in 101 chances at second base this season.
Sophomore shortstop Shana Lalo (Bethlehem, Pa./Northampton H.S.) has struggled after winning Commonwealth Conference Rookie of the Year honors last season, batting just .212 with a homer and seven runs batted in while starting all 27 games at shortstop.
Sophomore catcher Alli Ackerman (Morris Plains, N.J./Parsippany Hills H.S.) is fourth on the team in batting average with a mark of .308 with one homer and seven runs batted in, and has hit safely in six of the Crusaders’ last seven games. She has started all 27 games behind the plate and thrown out 20 percent of would-be base stealers (6-of-30).
Freshman center fielder Kelli Thompson (Hummelstown, Pa./Lower Dauphin H.S.) is batting .295 and ranks second on the team with four stolen bases in six attempts. Thompson also ranks second among outfielders with three assists.
Senior right fielder Lauren Pollock (Hummelstown, Pa./Lower Dauphin H.S.) is hitting .225 with 16 hits and nine runs scored, but has recorded six assists in 26 games.
Sophomore first baseman Gretchen Anderson (Southington, Conn./Southington H.S.) has been a clutch performer for the Crusaders this season, knocking in the winning or tying runs in the seventh inning three times. She is second on the team in runs batted in with 12 and leads the squad with 10 sacrifice bunts.
In addition, Anderson has made just one error in 192 chances (.995) at first base and has gone 19 straight games without a miscue.
A pair of freshman have added depth in both left field and at the designated player position — Becky Mann and Melissa Bird.
Mann (Williamsport, Pa./Williamsport H.S.) has appeared in 18 games (12 starts) and is batting .273 with four runs scored and four batted in.
Bird (Catawissa, Pa./Danville H.S.) has played 23 games with 21 starts and is batting .350 with nine runs batted in and nine walks. She began the week ranked ninth in the Commonwealth Conference in batting average.
On the mound, senior right hander Kristen Hogan (Succasunna, N.J./Roxbury H.S.) has been the mainstay of the pitching staff for the last four seasons.
She leads the Commonwealth Conference with 100 strikeouts and has posted a record of 12-3 with a 1.86 earned run average in 16 games (13 starts).
This season, Hogan earned her school-record 44th career victory in a 9-7 win at Albright on April 17, while extending her own career record for strikeouts to 439.
Hogan has surpassed the 100-strikeout plateau each of the last three seasons and owns the top four single-season strikeout totals in school history.
She needs just two wins to match her single-season Susquehanna record of 14 set during the 1999 season, a year in which she also set the single-season strikeout mark with 135 in 134 innings of work.
Freshman Amy Kleman (Locustdale, Pa./Cardinal Brennan H.S.) has been an effective number-two pitcher for the Crusaders this season, going 3-6 with a 2.27 earned run average in 71 innings of work.
She has completed all nine of her starts, allowing just 65 hits while striking out 28 batters and walking 20.
Kleman’s finest effort of the season was a two-hit shutout of Moravian on April 22 that clinched the Commonwealth Conference regular-season title for the Crusaders.
Freshman lefty Sarah Clark earned her first career win after allowing just three hits in four innings of work in a 7-4 win at Wilkes in game two of a doubleheader on Monday afternoon. She has made five starts as the Crusaders' number-three starter, with the team posting a record of 4-1 in those starts.
About Lebanon Valley
The Flying Dutchwomen qualified for their first-ever postseason berth after posting a 17-14 overall record and finishing fourth in the Commonwealth Conference with an 8-6 mark.
The Dutchwomen are led by junior Sam Rill, who posted an 8-4 record on the mound and is batting .319 with 12 runs batted in and a league-high 13 doubles.
Lebanon Valley is fourth in the conference in team batting with a .286 mark but ranks last in earned run average with a 3.11 team ERA.
The Dutchwomen enter the postseason with five wins in their last six games, including doubleheader sweeps of Elizabethtown and Wilkes.
However, Lebanon Valley posted a record of 5-8 on their home field during the season, the site of the 2001 Commonwealth Conference softball playoffs.
