Game 1 Box Score

Game 2 Box Score

EAST STROUDSBURG, Pa. - The Shippensburg University baseball team came through in the clutch on Sunday afternoon from Mitterling Field with a pair of rousing victories over homestanding East Stroudsburg that helped the Raiders take 3-of-4 from the Warriors in the season series and establish a two-game divisional advantage over fourth-place Millersville.

Shippensburg (17-22, 7-5 PSAC East) had to go 12 innings in the opener but an RBI-single from freshman Ben Miller guided the Raiders to a 2-1 victory. In the nightcap, freshman Cody Kulp went 5-for-5 with a home run, two doubles, three RBIs and three runs to propel Shippensburg to a 10-5 victory.

The Raiders took the lead in the opening game with an unearned run in the third inning. The leadoff batter, senior Sean Killian, reached on a two-base error by the center fielder and was advanced to third base on a bunt by senior Kyle Rhoades. Senior Tyler Redick grounded out to the shortstop, plating Killian to score the first run of the game.

Sophomore Kody Kibler, who made just his sixth career start, had the best outing of his young career by holding the Warrior bats scoreless through the first six innings. He scattered six hits and walked just two batters on the afternoon.

East Stroudsburg (22-17, 6-10 PSAC East) rallied in the bottom of the seventh inning against Redick, who entered in relief of Kibler. After a leadoff walk and a fielder's choice, pinch runner Brendan O'Malley advanced to second on a wild pitch and then scored on a single by Ryan Guarino that tied the score at 1-1. A strikeout and a groundout sent the game into extra innings.

The Raiders re-gained the lead in the top of the 12th inning with a two-out rally. Kulp delivered his second hit of the opener by singling to third base, and senior Kasey Kuhns followed with a single to shortstop. Miller then came to the plate and delivered the clutch hit with a single through the right side that scored Kulp to give SU a 2-1 lead.

Redick, who had never thrown more than 2.1 innings in a game in his collegiate career, was undaunted by the blown save and finished the game to earn the victory. He allowed just four hits in six marvelous innings of relief, striking out five batters to improve his season record to 1-1.

The second game featured 16 hits for the Raiders, who never trailed over the course of the two games on Sunday. In addition to Kulp's stellar performance, Shippensburg got two-hit games in the nightcap from Redick, Rhoades and Kuhns.

Kulp singled in the first inning and blasted a two-run home run in the third inning that gave the Raiders an early 2-0 lead. His double with two outs in the fifth inning began a fortuitous rally for Shippensburg that concluded with the Raiders holding a six-run lead.

Following Kulp's double, Kuhns and Ben Miller each reached base on fielding errors that eventually scored Kulp. Junior Kevin Scholly singled to load the bases, and sophomore catcher Kris Kullman singled to plate Kuhns and chase ESU starter Christian Saveri. Rhoades followed with an RBI infield single against reliever Jason Colletti and Redick squeezed home a run on a two-out bunt single to cap off the four-run barrage.

Shippensburg scored two runs in each of their final two at-bats. In the sixth, Kuhns delivered an RBI-single and Rhoades walked with the bases loaded to give Shippensburg an 8-2 lead. After a three-run Warrior rally in the bottom of the sixth, the Raiders brought the game to its final margin in the seventh with an RBI-single from Kulp and a sacrifice fly from Ben Miller. 

Freshman Ryan Rehman earned his second victory of the season in the nightcap by pitching five innings and allowing four runs and five hits. Saveri took the loss for the Warriors after allowing six runs (two earned) in 4.2 innings of work.

Shippensburg will return to the site of its 2008 Atlantic Region Championship on Tuesday with a road contest at Pittsburgh-Johnstown. First pitch is set for 1 p.m.

Notes: Through the first five innings of his PSAC starts, Kibler has allowed just four runs in 15 innings for an earned-run average of 2.40. Before Sunday, Kibler had struggled in the later innings, allowing four runs between the sixth and seventh innings of his starts against Lock Haven and Millersville.