Box score

JOHNSTOWN, Pa. - The early scoring barrage continued for the Shippensburg University baseball team as it scored six in the first three innings to take a four-run lead en route to a 10-5 victory over No. 24-ranked West Chester Saturday afternoon at Point Stadium in the NCAA Division II North Atlantic Region Championship.

Saturday's victory also marked the third-straight game in which the Red Raiders (37-23) have scored 10 or more runs. In three regional championship games, Shippensburg has scored 31 runs after totaling just 16 in three contests in the PSAC Baseball Championship.

Of those 31 runs, the Red Raiders have scored 19 of them over the first four innings.

Shippensburg's top three hitters, senior Justin Garber, junior Kyle Rhoades and junior Tyler Redick provided much of the offense as the three combined for eight hits and five runs. Redick and Rhoades had three hits and two runs apiece.

The trio jumped on West Chester (43-15) starter David Slusser for three-straight singles to start the game with Redick's hit scoring Garber for the game's first run. Rhoades would later score on an RBI-groundout by sophomore Rick Shumway to five the Red Raiders a 2-0 lead.

To start the second, Slusser issued three consecutive walks to junior Kasey Kuhns and junior Sean Killian and senior Eric Dezell before a single to left by Garber scored Kuhns and an error plated Killian and Dezell to extend the lead to five.

Dezell added an RBI-single of his own in the third that brought sophomore Ashton Taughinbaugh around for a 6-0 Shippensburg advantage.

In the bottom of the third, the Golden Rams cut into the deficit with a pair of runs on a two-run double by Matt Cotellese.

Frank Nunan added another West Chester run in the fifth to cut the lead in half, 6-3, after he led of the inning with a single, stole second and scored an RBI-single by Brandon Wolfe.

Both teams scored two runs in the seventh with Shippensburg plating two unearned following a Golden Ram throwing error.

For West Chester, Cotellese and Nick Spisak each had run-scoring singles to draw the Golden Rams within three, 8-5, but Red Raider junior starter Jason Kelly was able to squelch the no-out rally. Wext Chester left a pair of runners on when Kelly recorded three outs during the next three at-bats.

Kelly picked up his seventh win of the season against only two losses after surrendering five runs over seven innings and striking out six.

Shippensburg added a pair of insurance runs in the ninth on a two-run single by Kuhns to provide for the final margin of victory.

Senior Kyle Warner entered the game in relief of Kelly in the eighth and totaled two scoreless innings to record his third save of the season and the ninth of his career.

Slusser was one of four Golden Ram pitchers used in the game and suffered his fourth loss in 11 starts this season after allowing five earned runs in just an inning-and-a-third.

Shippensburg will face the winner of Saturday's 7:00 p.m., contest in the regional championship game Sunday at 1:00 p.m. The tournament's only unbeaten, the Red Raiders need just one victory to secure its first appearance in the NCAA Division II Baseball Championship since 1996.

This year's national championship tournament will be held at GCS Stadium in Sauget, Illinois, home of the Gateway Grizzlies, May 24-31.