The IUP softball team started its season as if there were a fire burning beneath it.
IUP got off to the best start in school history with eight consecutive wins before falling to Adelphi. Making sure the team didn’t lose its second game in a row was junior pitcher Michelle Bivona, who knocked in the game-winning run against C.W. Post to bring the record to 9-1. IUP is now 11-1 and are currently ranked No. 12 in the National Fastpitch Coaches Association Poll.
This ranking is the first time the team has been ranked since the 2001 season.
IUP has a big task ahead of it with the conference play only a few days away. The team opens the conference play with a game against a struggling Clarion team. Clarion has a record of just 1-6. After Clarion, IUP will face off against Lock Haven and Slippery Rock.
This is the most important part of the schedule since conference play is such a big deal.
One of the more impressive players on this Crimson Hawks team is sophomore outfielder Monica Iachini. Iachini is leading the Crimson Hawks with a .500 batting average and has also stolen nine bases. Iachini also has a remarkable .543
on-base percentage.
Junior pitcher Erin Holloway is making a big comeback after having an injury-filled season last year. She has posted a 6-0 record so far this season.
There is no wonder to her success when she is posting stats like a 1.07 earned run average, along with holding the opponent’s batting average to only .141. She recently recorded her third shutout of the season when the team played Lake Erie in Painesville, Ohio. Holloway shut down Lake Erie with 15 strikeouts and only allowed two hits.
IUP’s next game is at 11 a.m. Friday in the Salem Tournament in Salem, Va. Its first opponent is West Liberty and its second game at 3 p.m. is against Alderson-Broaddus.
IUP softball off to best start in school history
Published: Friday, March 19, 2010
Updated: Friday, March 19, 2010
 Bivona |
 Holloway |
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