Game 1
Game 2
SHIPPENSBURG, Pa. - Shippensburg University baseball junior Matt Wright struck out 12 in game one while the Red Raiders' seventh-inning rally in game two fell short as the team split a PSAC crossover doubleheader Friday afternoon at Fairchild Field, winning the opener 6-2 before falling in the nightcap, 1-0.
With the win in game one, Shippensburg (12-10) improved to 3-1 at home this season and 3-1 against the PSAC Eastern Division.
For Wright, it was his fourth double-digit strikeout performance in six starts this season and third in as many games. He improved his career total to 240, moving him past Evan Englebrook '04 for second on the school's career strikeouts list, just one shy of tying the all-time record set by Lee McClintock '05.
In 2007, Wright totaled a career-high 99 strikeouts and through six games this season, has already amassed 58, an average of 9.7 per game. The school single-season record for strikeouts is 113 set by Englebrook during the 2004 season.
Wright surrendered just four hits over seven innings while allowing four walks and two earned runs, his first in a span of four games. Matt Young's RBI-single to center in the top of the fifth marked the first run allowed by Wright since March 1 at No. 11 Georgia College & State, ending a streak of 16.2 innings pitched.
Leading 1-0 in the fourth, the Red Raiders scored three runs to take a 4-0 lead, highlighted by a two-run homer to left by senior Eric Dezell, his first of the season.
In addition to Young's single in the fifth, the Mountaineers (13-6) would also add a run in the top of the sixth to cut the Shippensburg lead in half, 4-2. With one out, Chris Miller purposely got involved in a run down, allowing Abram Yeakel to score from third.
The Red Raiders added two insurance runs in the bottom of the sixth on an RBI-double by freshman Kevin Miller and an RBI-single by sophomore Rick Shumway.
Junior Kasey Kuhns finished the game 3-for-3 with one RBI while Dezell was 1-for-3 with two RBIs and one run scored.
Chambersburg native Irvin Sleighter suffered his first loss of the season for Mansfield, allowing nine hits and six runs.
Game two featured just eight runs and one run between the two teams as Mansfield's Eric Rosenberger and Shippensburg's Tim Freshour were locked in a pitcher's duel.
The game's only run came in the top of the second when the Drew Bair hit a two-out single to centerfield to score Miller. The run did not sit well with Shippensburg who allowed Miller into scoring position on a wild pitch before he advanced to third when senior Justin Garber made an outstanding over-the-shoulder diving catch in center.
Shippensburg head coach Matt Jones argued that Miller left second early before Garber had made the catch, but after a lenghty discussion, the umpires did not agree and Miller was granted third.
The Mountaineers' contested run was the only one of the game allowed by Freshour who had his five-game winning steak snapped despite allowing just four hits and striking out three in his fourth complete game performance of the season.
Trailing 1-0 and having totaled just one hit against Rosenberger heading into the bottom of the seventh, the Red Raiders mounted a comeback, started when sophomore Kevin Scholly and Shumway both led of the inning with singles. Shumway's came on a sacrifice bunt attempt that moved freshman Alex Hartman, who came in to pinch run for Scholly, to second.
However, Hartman was picked off at second on the next play which proved to be costly because Miller followed with a single through the left side that could have tied the game at 1-1 or at least loaded the bases with no outs.
Instead, there was a runner on first and one out and the next two batters flied out to end the game.
Shippensburg will get a second chance at the Mountaineers on Saturday when the two teams will play a doubleheader at Mansfield beginning at 1:00 p.m.
