Game 1
Game 2

SHIPPENSBURG, Pa. - Shippensburg University baseball junior Matt Wright won his fourth decision out of the last five, striking out 13 and allowing just one hit in game one while the Red Raider offense exploded for 26 runs and 30 hits, sweeping a PSAC Western Division doubleheader with Clarion, 12-0 and 14-2 Saturday at Fairchild Field.

Senior Justin Garber and junior Tyler Redick each totaled five hits while combining for eight RBIs to lead Shippensburg (22-13, 4-2 PSAC West) to its sixth-straight victory and 10th in the last 12 games.

Since March 1, the Red Raiders have posted a record of 21-7 with two of those wins coming at No. 11 Georgia College & State.

Wright struck out 13 of the 19 batters he faced and just one at-bat prevented him from a perfect game. With Shippensburg lead 10-0 in the top of the sixth, Wright struck out the first two batters before surrendering a double to left center by Jordan Premick. He then struck out Adam Foltz to end the inning before being replaced by freshman Kody Kibler in the seventh.

It was Wright's fifth consecutive start with at least 10 strikeouts and sixth in eight this season. He now has totaled 86 strikeouts in 10 appearances this season and needs just 13 to tie his career-high of 99 set last year and 14 to become just the third Red Raider to reach 100 in a single-season.

For his career, Wright has totaled 268 strikeouts, further adding to his school record while moving into fifth place on the all-time PSAC list ahead of Steve Micknich of Mansfield who totaled 262 from 1991-94. It was also his 11th game with at least 10 strikeouts which includes the career-high 15 he totaled in game one of a doubleheader versus Lock Haven on Apr. 20, 2007.

In addition to Wright's 13 strikeouts, Kibler struck out the side in the seventh after replacing Wright as the two combined to strike out 16 of the 22 Golden Eagle batters.

Garber also continued his climb up the Shippensburg record books on Saturday as his five hits gave him 242 for his career, just 12 behind Chad Stecker '05 for the all-time record.

Through 31 games this season, Garber is batting .476, raising his career average to .397 which would be tops in school history along with his 52 hit-by-pitch which is also believed to be a school record, although no official record has been kept. He is also fourth in runs (162), third in triples (12), fourth in stolen bases (64) and second in total bases (338).

Garber finished game one 3-for-3 with three runs scored while Redick went 2-for-3 with four RBIs, including a two-run homer in the fourth.

Junior Kyle Rhoades was 2-for-2 with three runs and three RBIs. He later went 1-for-4 with a single to right in the fourth inning of the second game to extend his hitting streak to 13 games, just three short of Garber's team-best 16 to start the season.

In game two, Shippensburg blew open a 2-2 tie in the bottom of the third by scoring four runs, all of which came on two-run singles by sophomore Rick Shumway and junior Kasey Kuhns. Kuhns added an RBI-single in the fifth that scored Shumway after he tripled to center with one out. Garber then followed with a three-run double to center to cap a four-run fifth.

Leading 10-2 after five, the Red Raiders added four more runs in the sixth, the last two of which came on an RBI-single by senior Eric Dezell.

Garber went 2-for-4 with three RBIs while Kuhns was 3-for-4 with four RBIs and Shumway was 3-for-4 with three RBIs. Redick also had three hits, going 3-for-5 with three runs.

On the mound, junior Tim Freshour had another stellar outing, picking up his PSAC-leading seventh victory of the season after totaling his sixth complete game in nine starts this year. He allowed just six hits and one earned run while striking out three.

Shippensburg and Clarion will close out their four-game series on Sunday with a doubleheader at Clarion. The two games will mark the first home games for the Golden Eagles this season after field conditions moved their doubleheader against IUP last Sunday. First pitch is at 1:00 p.m.