Box Score 1 | Box Score 2

SHIPPENSBURG, Pa. – Juniors Michael Douglas and Cal Hogan each hit their first career home runs on Saturday afternoon as the No. 12 Shippensburg University baseball team received balanced offensive production in a doubleheader sweep of East Stroudsburg from Fairchild Field that gave SU a series win in its PSAC East opener. The Raiders won Game 1, 5-4, before taking Game 2, 8-4.

From his leadoff spot in the lineup, Douglas, the center fielder, scored four runs – including three in the opener – while going 4-for-6 overall with two runs driven in (both in Game 1) and a stolen base. Hogan, the third baseman, went 3-for-6 on the day with two runs scored to go along with his nightcap home run.

Junior pitcher Shawn Patterson ran his record to 4-0 on the season and left the opener with two outs in the seventh. He gave up four runs on six hits and struck out five.

Freshman reliever Marcus Shippey closed out both games to earn his second and third saves of the season. He pitched one and two-thirds total innings and gave up one hit while fanning one.

Junior first baseman Pat Kregeloh went 3-for-5 overall with four RBIs while sophomore second baseman Jimmy Spanos stole a base and knocked in three runs total – including a two-run triple in the opener.

Spanos's most crucial play of the day came in the field, however, in Game 1 with two outs in the top of the seventh and ESU runners on first and second. The Raiders were holding onto a slim one-run lead and with Warrior slugger Joe Bennie at the plate, SU senior catcher Tyler Shover caught a Shippey strike and quickly threw to Kregeloh at first base to pick off the runner.

The ball rolled in the infield toward shallow right as the East Stroudsburg runner on second rounded third and took his chances heading for home. Spanos collected the ball and threw back to Shover, who tagged the runner at the plate for the game-ending 2-4 out to preserve the opener victory.

Freshman Kyle McClintock pitched three innings in relief of sophomore starter Nick Massetti in the nightcap and earned his second win of the season. Massetti pitched two outs into the third and gave up three runs on four hits.

Game 1: Shippensburg 5, East Stroudsburg 4

After a leadoff Douglas single and a Shover double to left field, Kregeloh opened up the day's scoring in the first inning with a sacrifice fly to right field that brought home Douglas.

Patterson retired the first six ESU batters of the game before running into trouble in the third, giving up three runs off three hits and a walk in the frame. Shover stopped the bleeding, however, as he caught ESU's Chris Boyer stealing at second to end the inning.

Shippensburg responded and tied the game at 3-3 with Spanos's two-RBI triple to the left-center gap in the bottom half of the inning. The sophomore's team-leading third triple of the season scored freshman shortstop Mike Marcinko (leadoff single) and Douglas (doubled down the left-field line).

The Raiders plated the winning run in the fifth despite zero hits in the frame. Douglas was hit by a pitch to lead off the inning then stole second before advancing to third on a Shover fly out to center. With Spanos reaching on a walk, Kregeloh brought Douglas home on a 5-4-3 groundout that included Spanos advancing safely to second to avoid the inning-ending double play.

Hogan's solo home run to left field on the first pitch he saw with two outs in the sixth pushed SU's lead to 5-3 and set up the dramatic final frame. Warrior catcher Eric Forth led off the top of the seventh with a double to right field, advanced to third on a fly out and scored with two outs on an RBI single to center. An ESU walk then put runners at first and second before Shippey entered the game to set up the game-ending play at the plate.

Game 2: Shippensburg 8, East Stroudsburg 4

SU recorded a run in each of the first two innings as a Kregeloh RBI-double scored Shover in the first and Douglas's solo jack to left field with two outs in the second made the score 2-0.

The Warriors grabbed a one-run lead midway through the third, however, with three runs off three hits and three walks, before Shippensburg broke the game open with five runs in the fourth. In that frame, Shippensburg used a Douglas RBI single, a Spanos fielder's choice RBI, a Shover sacrifice fly to left, a Kregeloh RBI single to center and a wild pitch to plate its five runs for the 7-3 SU advantage.

After an ESU RBI single in the top of the sixth, senior right fielder Cody Kulp earned the run right back in the bottom half of the frame with an RBI single for the game's final run.