Game 1
Game 2

SHIPPENSBURG, Pa. - With a doubleheader sweep over Lock Haven at Fairchild Field, 10-3 and 9-2, combined with a 9-3 victory by Indiana (Pa.) at California (Pa.), the Shippensburg University baseball team won its first outright PSAC Western Division title and its second since moving from the Eastern Division prior to the 2005 season.

The Red Raiders (33-21, 14-6 PSAC West), who posted their fourth 30-win season out of the last five with a sweep of Lock Haven on Friday, won 14 conference games this season, the most the team has had in its four seasons in the West and highest total since it won 17 in the East in 2004.

While 2008 marks the first outright Western Division title for Shippensburg, the team did finish in a four-way tie for first in the West in 2005 as the Red Raiders, Clarion, California (Pa.) and Slippery Rock all finished with 12-8 conference records.

Since 1994, Shippensburg has won four divisional titles, claiming East championships in 1996 and 2004 and West crowns in 2005 and 2008.

As the PSAC Western Division champion, the Red Raiders earn the No. 1-seed from the West in next week's PSAC Baseball Championship being held at Clipper Magazine Stadium in Lancaster, home of the Atlantic League's Lancaster Barnstormers.

Shippensburg has advanced to six consecutive conference tournaments and 11 since 1994, winning championships in 1996, 2000, 2003 and 2007.

In addition to a division title on Saturday, the Red Raiders also celebrated Senior Day as seniors Brandon Geib, Kyle Warner, Eric Dezell and Justin Garber made their final appearances at home.

Garber went 2-for-5 with two walks, two runs, two stolen bases and one RBI while Dezell drew two walks, scored a run and drove in a run.

On the mound, Geib got the start in game two and earned his fourth victory of the season, allowing just four hits and earned run over six innings. He also struck out three before Warner came on in the bottom of the seventh to seal the victory after retiring three of the five batters he faced.

Shippensburg outscored the Bald Eagles (16-34, 5-15 PSAC West) 33-5 over the four-game series, adding 19 on Saturday.

Trailing 1-0 in game one, the Red Raiders exploded for eight runs in the bottom of the first, highlighted by two-run singles by sophomore Ashton Taughinbaugh and junior Kyle Rhoades. Rhoades also scored the game's first run when he stole home as part of a double steal with junior Tyler Redick.

In addition, Dezell and Garber drew back-to-back walks with the bases loaded to score two runs before junior Sean Killian scored on a wild pitch. All totaled, Shippensburg scored eight runs on just five hits with one Lock Haven error.

After the Bald Eagles scored two in the third to cut the lead to 8-3, junior Jason Kelly did not allow a run over the final five innings to earn his sixth victory of the season.

Rhoades was 2-for-4 with two RBIs while Redick also totaled two hits.

After finishing the first game 3-for-4 with two RBIs, Taughingbaugh was 1-for-3 with two RBIs in game two with a two-run single that was part of Shippensburg's three-run fourth.

Just like game one, Shippensburg used a big first inning to set the tone, taking a 3-1 lead after one after scoring two unearned runs.

The Red Raiders scored nine runs in the second game, only two of which were earned as they took advantage of six Bald Eagles errors to seal its PSAC Western Division championship.

Sophomore Rick Shumway also drove in two runs for Shippensburg as he went 1-for-4 with three runs scored while junior Kasey Kuhns finished 2-for-3.

As a result of IUP's sweep over California (Pa.) and Slippery Rock's sweep of Clarion, the Crimson Hawks will be the No. 2-seed from the West in next week's PSAC Baseball Championship while The Rock will be the No. 3-seed as a result of a tie-breaker against California (Pa.) in which Slippery Rock was 2-2 against IUP and the Vulcans were 1-3.

More information such as times and dates for next week's conference tournament will be available on Monday. Please check back to www.shipraiders.com or visit the PSAC web site at www.psacsports.org.