WINGATE, N.C. – The Shippensburg University baseball team nearly came away with a split of its season-opening doubleheader on Saturday afternoon at Wingate but dropped a pair of games to the host Bulldogs by scores of 14-2 and 7-5.

Shippensburg (2-0) held a 5-1 lead through the first five innings of the nightcap thanks to a solid start by junior southpaw Ted Williams and some timely hitting. SU took a 3-0 lead in the first inning with a run on a passed ball and a two-run homer by senior Kris Kullman.

In the second inning, senior center fielder AJ Czap had an RBI on a fielder's choice and another run crossed the plate on an error.

The trouble arose in the sixth inning, when the Bulldogs plated six runs to ultimately earn a come-from-behind win. Brien Young, who was 3-for-4 with three RBIs in the nightcap, hit a two-run triple off sophomore Josh Scott to plate the go-ahead runs.

Junior second baseman Eric Herman finished the doubleheader 3-for-5 with two runs while laying down a sacrifice. Right fielder Cody Kulp had two hits and a walk from the leadoff spot.

Wingate (3-0) used a second-inning grand slam to gain the momentum in the opener. Junior Nick Umberger started the game for the Raiders and went three innings, striking out four batters.

On Sunday, Shippensburg will finish the three-game series with a 1 p.m. game at Wingate.

Notes: The teams played a pair of seven-inning games after the start of the doubleheader was pushed back to 5 p.m. The original plan was to play a 9-inning game followed by a 7-inning game. Extra time was needed to prepare the field following an excessive amount of rainfall from the night before.