SHIPPENSBURG, Pa. – The Shippensburg University baseball team finished up a stretch of seven games in six days on a pleasant Monday afternoon from Fairchild Field with memorable doubleheader against regional rival Slippery Rock. The Raiders closed well in the opener to earn a 6-3 victory before the two teams combined for 13 extra-base hits in a 15-11 slugfest won by The Rock.

Shippensburg (16-22) fell behind 3-1 in the opener but fought back with runs in the fourth, fifth and sixth innings. Most importantly, sophomore Josh Scott came out of the bullpen and threw strikes – earning the win with three shutout innings of relief. Scott scattered a hit and a walk while striking out three.

In the fourth, junior Tyler Uphouse drew a bases-loaded walk with one out to make the score 3-2. After a lineout, sophomore Sam Phillips singled to tie the score at 3-3.

SU's senior trio helped the Raiders take the lead in the fifth. Back-to-back singles by AJ Czap and Jesse Smith eventually led to the clutch hit of the game. With two outs, Kris Kullman ripped a 1-2 pitch into right-center field that plated both men, giving SU a 5-3 lead.

The Raiders added an insurance run in the sixth. Junior Kody Kibler entered in the seventh with a runner on and one out – he retired both men he faced to pick up his fourth save.

Game 2 featured 26 runs, 26 hits and just four half-innings without someone crossing the plate. Of the aforementioned 13 extra-base hits, six were home runs – four by The Rock and two by Shippensburg.

Slippery Rock (23-13), a squad ranked third in the latest National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association of America (NCBWA) Atlantic Region poll and receiving votes in the Collegiate Baseball national poll, got the leadoff man on in all seven innings of the nightcap. In the second, third and fourth innings, SRU's leadoff man immediately came around to score after two-run homers by Mitch Monas, Matt Howard and Matt Kosik.

Every time that The Rock scored a run, however, Shippensburg answered with at least one of its own until the final inning. Czap opened the scoring for SU in the second with a solo homer – his first round tripper of the season. SU got two in the third, one on an RBI-single by junior Eric Herman and another on a sacrifice fly by freshman Pat Kregeloh.

There were several long innings in the second game – but the fourth might have taken the cake. The Rock delivered its third straight two-run homer before loading the bases with one out. Junior Nick Umberger, already the third SU pitcher of the game, struck out Derek DiRuscia but did so with a wild pitch. Two runs scored on the play – the first on the ricochet – and the second when Lee Foxton aggressively rounded third and the throw back toward the plate rolled away.

In the bottom of the inning, Kullman played a run with a two-out hit up the middle and ended up safe at second on a bang-bang play. Kullman was originally called out at second base by the field umpire before the call was changed after the ball popped out of the second baseman's glove at some point during the tag attempt.

After a five-minute argument, SU proceeded to take advantage of the extension to the inning. Uphouse singled home Kullman; Herman was hit by a pitch, Phillips singled home Uphouse and junior Ben Miller plated Herman. Both teams scored four runs in the inning, and sophomore Steve Sulcoski hit a sacrifice fly in the fifth to tie the score at 8-8.

The nightmare for the pitchers continued in the sixth inning. Slippery Rock scored three in the top half of the frame but Shippensburg answered right back with three of its own – the last two coming on a 1-2 pitch that Smith laced into left-center field for a double.

Two pitches into the seventh inning, Kosik slammed his second homer of the game – this one to dead center – to began a decisive four-run frame for The Rock. Kibler took the loss in the second game while SRU freshman J.J. Paskert earned the win.

Smith did not record an out at the plate in Game 1 – going for 2-for-2 with a walk, stolen base and two runs scored. He finished the doubleheader 4-for-5 with two stolen bases, bringing his team-leading total to 12.

Ben Miller did not record an out at the plate in Game 2 – finishing 1-for-1 with two walks and a sacrifice bunt.

Overall, Herman had two hits in both games and had scored three runs on the afternoon. Uphouse had three hits, three RBIs and three runs scored. Phillips and Czap each had three hits – Czap also scored three times.

Shippensburg is scheduled to host Wilmington (Del.) tomorrow – weather permitting – at 3 p.m. from Fairchild Field.