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BLOOMSBURG, Pa. – Bloomsburg University continues its postseason run at the NCAA Atlantic Region 2 Championships hosted by Shippensburg on May 10-12.
 
BU is making its 31st straight appearance in the NCAA postseason.
 
The Huskies will face the host institution Shippensburg in the first round at 2:30 p.m. on Friday, May 10.  In addition to the first round game between BU and the second seeded Raiders, third seeded West Virginia State and Kutztown, who earned the sixth seed after winning the PSAC Championship over the weekend, will square off in a first round game at noon the same day.
 
The winners will advance to Saturday's 11 a.m. game while the losers will be forced to work their way through the back side of the bracket.
 
The Huskies enter regionals coming off a trip to the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Semifinals. The team won its first three matchups of the tournament, including a 6-0 win over No. 20 Shippensburg, before falling to Kutztown and California (Pa.).
 
The matchup with Shippensburg was the first between the teams this season. Kayla McHale (Dillsburg/Northern) and Chrissy Belko (Old Forge/Old Forge) both homered in five-run seventh inning to seal the victory for Bloomsburg. In the circle, Cait Paine (Lebanon/Lebanon) threw seven shutout innings allowing two hits and walking none while striking out nine.
 
Last season, Bloomsburg split a doubleheader with Shippensburg. The Huskies won game one 8-0 in five innings but were defeated in game two by a final score of 12-3.
 
As a team, Bloomsburg leads the PSAC in triples with 18. No other PSAC team had more than half as many. The team also sits in second with 41 home runs and is tied for fourth with a team batting average of .301.
 
In the circle, Huskies' pitchers have struck out more batters than any other PSAC team this season with 355 while compiling the fourth-lowest ERA in the conference at 2.02.
 
Offensively, five Huskies are hitting at least .328, led by McHale at .416. McHale's average is the second best in the conference. Belko leads the team and is tied for the conference-lead in RBI with 50 on the year. She is also second in the PSAC with 15 home runs.

Mandi Baer (Douglassville/Daniel Boone) leads the team with 37 runs scored on the year, while batting .341.  Her 11 doubles are tied for the team lead and her eight home runs are second on the club. Rachel Fredell (Dingmans Ferry/Delaware Valley) is tied with Baer for the team-high in doubles. With a .351 batting average, she ranks second on the Huskies, as are her 34 RBIs.  
 
Paine has found her way into the record books this season while leading the pitching staff. Her conference-leading 274 strikeouts give her 783 for her career, the most in Bloomsburg University history. In addition, her 1.66 ERA is the seventh-best mark in the PSAC. She also has the second lowest batting average against in the conference as opponents are hitting just .183 off her this season.
 
Caitlin O'Connor (Rockaway, NJ/Morris Knolls) has a team-best 0.95 ERA on the year, but her 44.1 innings pitched are not enough to qualify her among the conference leaders. Mandi Black (Huntington Mills/Northwest Area) has thrown 58 innings, second on the team and is 5-5 with a 3.98 ERA. Brianna Taylor (Mifflinville/Central Columbia) has a 2.17 ERA in 19.1 innings of work on the season.
 
Shippensburg University enters tournament play with a 31-11 overall record (12-4 PSAC East).
 
The Red Raiders pitching staff has compiled the best ERA in the conference at 1.47 and is second to Bloomsburg in strikeouts with 302 in 296 innings pitched. Raiders' pitchers have given up the fewest hits in the conference despite throwing more total innings than nine of the 15 PSAC schools.
 
Shippensburg also has the lowest batting average against in the PSAC at .198. Bloomsburg is in second in the category at .199.
 
Offensively, Shippensburg is in the middle of the pack with a team batting average of .288. They are top-five in the conference in on base percentage at .358 and have stolen the second most bases in the conference with 75 steals in 88 attempts.
 
In the field, the Raiders have made just 21 errors this season en route to a PSAC-best .982 fielding percentage.
 
Individually, Shippensburg is led by Kiersten Darhower's .379 average and .416 on base percentage.
 
Tyler Thompson is second on the team in hitting at .348 and is second in the PSAC with 30 stolen bases in 32 attempts.  In the circle, Emily Estep leads the Raiders with a 1.35 ERA and 150 strikeouts in 130 innings pitched. Liz Parkins has a 1.49 ERA and 68 strikeouts in 70.1 innings of work, while Makenzie Lynn has a 1.61 ERA and 84 strikeouts in 95.2 innings.
 
In the other first round matchup of the Atlantic II Regional tournament, Kutztown will take on West Virginia State. Kutztown is 29-21 on the year (9-7 PSAC East) and enters regionals on the heels of a championship victory in the 2013 PSAC playoffs.
 
The Golden Bears have the second best batting average in the PSAC at .315 and have hit the third most home runs with 38. They have also hit a conference leading 70 doubles this season and are second to Bloomsburg with 617 total bases. In the circle, Kutztown pitchers have amassed a 2.47 ERA in 329.2 innings of work.
 
Individually, Kutztown is led by Colleen Smith. Smith leads the team with a .401 batting average, 13 home runs and 48 RBI. Brianna Knipe is second on the team with a .371 batting average, while Morgan Booth is hitting .354 and has a team best 20 stolen bases. In the circle, Dominique Ficara leads the team with a 2.74 ERA and 83 strikeouts in 186.1 innings, while Mary Kocienski has a 2.88 ERA and 73 strikeouts in 131.1 innings of work.
 
West Virginia State is 42-11 on the year and finished the regular season as the number two team in the West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WVIAC) with a 17-4 conference record.
 
The Yellow Jackets lead the WVIAC in hitting with a team batting average of .327 and 94 stolen bases. They are also third in team-RBI with 219 on the year. In the circle, they have the third lowest ERA in the conference at 2.02 and are tied for the most strikeouts with 247.
 
West Virginia State is led individually by Sabrina Schouten's .459 batting average. Schouten is also second on the team in stolen bases with 24 on the year. Mattie Best is second on the team in hitting at .410 and has a team-leading four home runs and 46 RBI. In the circle, Kelsey Lorraine is 15-6 this season with a 1.81 ERA and 156 strikeouts in 120.0 innings pitched, while Sara Pelegreen is 13-3 with a 1.94 ERA and 92 strikeouts in 108.1 innings.