QUAKERTOWN, Pa. – The Bloomsburg University softball team's bid for the 2022 Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) title ended in the second game of the day on Sunday. The Huskies defeated Shepherd, 8-6, to move on to the semifinals but fell to Mercyhurst, 4-3, to end their tournament run.

The Huskies went 3-2 in the tournament after defeating Seton Hill on the first day, 9-3, but the Huskies fell to Kutztown, 4-3, to get sent to the loser's bracket. Bloomsburg stayed alive in the tournament with an 8-7 walk-off win over Shippensburg on Thursday night before the tournament was postponed for 48 hours due to steady rain in Quakertown. Action resumed on Sunday, and the Huskies need to win four games to claim the title. They started on the right foot as the Huskies eliminated Shepherd with an 8-6 win in the morning game. Mercyhurst ended the Huskies' chances of playing for the title as the Lakers won the second game of the day, 4-3.
 
In Bloomsburg's win over Shepherd, Emma Little (Pittsburgh, Pa./Penn-Trafford) led BU at the plate, going 3-for-4 with a run and an RBI, while Sammi Starr (Berwick, Pa./Berwick Area) and Nicolette Ray (Abington, Pa./Abington) had two hits and two RBI. Bella Culp (Harrisburg, Pa/Central Dauphin) went 2-for-4 with two runs and an RBI. Callie Sowers (Irwin, Pa/Hempfield Area) improved to 18-7 on the season in the circle as she allowed six runs, five earned, in her 7.0 inning complete-game effort. She gave up 11 hits but did not allow a walk and stuck out six.
 
The two teams traded three-run first innings as Shepherd got out to a hot start with a three-run home run in the top of the frame. The Huskies responded with a pair of home runs in their half of the inning. Ray kicked things off with a long two-run shot with Starr on first before Erin DelPierre (Harrisburg, Pa./Central Dauphin) tied the game with a wall-scrapper to straightaway center.
 
Shepherd took back the lead in the top of the second with a one-run single with runners on the corners.

The lead was short-lived; however, as the Huskies put up three runs in the bottom of the third to take a 6-4 lead, one they would not surrender. Culp tied the contest 4-4 with an RBI single to bring home Alex Iseminger (Everett, Pa./Everett Area). Little followed with a single to center to bring home Danielle Barnes (Coopersburg, Pa./Southern Lehigh) and Alexis Wetzler (Bellefonte, Pa./Bellefonte Area High School) capped the inning with a single to center to bring home Culp.
 
Shepherd got a run back in the top of the fourth, but a two-run double from Starr in the bottom of the fifth was all the insurance the Huskies needed to hang on for the win. In the top of the seventh, Shepherd cut the lead back to two, 8-6, but Sowers got A Mantz to ground out to short to end the game.
 
In the final game of the tournament for Bloomsburg, Mercyhurst struck first with a solo home run in the bottom of the first for a 1-0 lead. After a scoreless second inning for both teams, Bloomsburg grabbed the lead as DelPierre singled to left with the bases loaded to bring home Starr and Kayleigh Lenner (Sunbury, Pa./Shikellamy). The Huskies held on to their 2-1 lead until the bottom of the fifth.
 
Mercyhurst scored three times in the inning to take a 4-2 lead. With two outs and a runner, on in the top of the seventh, Ray reached thanks to a fielding error by the Lakers' left fielder, and Kammy Kropinski (Conshohocken, Pa./Plymouth-Whitemarsh) came home to score to cut the lead to one 4-3. Iseminger singled to left to push the tying run to scoring position and put the go-ahead run on base, but the Lakers' reliever got a fielder's choice to end the inning and the game.

Despite falling in the conference tournament, the Huskies are currently ranked No. 4 in the Atlantic Region. They will await the NCAA selection show to see if their 28-17 record has earned an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament. The selection show is slated for Monday, May 9 at 10:00 am.