SHIPPENSBURG, Pa. – The Shippensburg University baseball team used a four-run sixth inning in its Monday afternoon opener before riding the efforts of junior left fielder Cody Ezolt and sophomore southpaw Kyle McClintock in the nightcap to achieve a doubleheader sweep of CACC opponent Wilmington (Del.), 5-4 and 5-3, on SSTC Alumni Day at Fairchild Field.
 
Shippensburg (26-16) improved to 17-4 at home this season by handing Wilmington (26-7-1), a team ranked No. 20 in the latest NCBWA poll, No. 13 in the D2BaseballNews.com poll and No. 11 in the CollegeBaseballLineup.com poll, its first doubleheader loss of the year.
 
Senior closer Austin Bartley recorded saves in both games, bringing his season total to eight and his career total to 16 – both of which are just one short of the school records held by Kody Kibler '12.
 
Including Monday's doubleheader, exactly two-thirds of SU's games this season (28-of-42) have been decided by two runs or less. The Raiders are 7-10 in one-run games and 10-1 in two-run games.
 
Shippensburg trailed 3-1 in Game 1 entering the bottom of the sixth but rallied for four runs, ultimately leading to the ninth victory this season in the team's final at-bat. With one out, Ezolt drew a walk to chase WU starter Jay Kluka. Senior Pat Kregeloh greeted reliever Nick Marics by inside-outing a ball down the right-field line for a double, putting two runners into scoring position.
 
Freshman Isaac Stern then came up big, sending a line drive to left that evaded the dive of outfielder Sam Goines and rolled all the way to the warning track for a triple to tie the score at 3-3.
 
Senior Cal Hogan and junior Austin Allison each responded with back-to-back RBI-doubles, giving the Raiders a two-run lead. Hogan also doubled in the second. Bartley did allow a run in the seventh, but escaped a bases-loaded jam by inducing a flyout.
  
Senior right-hander Shawn Patterson had a strong effort on the mound in the opener, allowing three runs (one earned) on six hits in six innings to improve to 3-3 on the year. Patterson walked just one batter and struck out two.
 
In Game 2, McClintock was also splendid on the mound – throwing six shutout innings in the longest outing of his young career. He scattered five hits and did not walk a batter in his first start this season, recording a strikeout and improving his team-leading ERA to 2.42 in 26 innings this season.
 
Ezolt launched a pair of home runs to provide the majority of the Raider offense. His solo shot to lead off the bottom of the fourth inning broke up a scoreless tie, while his three-run shot in the fifth inning extended SU's lead to 5-0. Senior Michael Douglas provided an RBI-double two batters before Ezolt's second homer.
 
Bartley came out of the bullpen in the seventh inning in relief of sophomore Thomas Swartz and allowed a single with one out but then retired the next two batters to strand the final WU runners in scoring position.
 
Ezolt, who had just one extra-base hit (a double) in his first two seasons with the Raiders, now leads the entire conference in home runs with nine as a junior. Seven of his nine homers hit this season have come with two strikes against him in the count, including both of his round trippers on Monday.
 
Shippensburg will host Lock Haven at 1 p.m. Friday in its regular season home finale from Fairchild Field. Between games of the doubleheader, SU will recognize its six seniors: Bartley, Douglas, Kregeloh, Hogan, Patterson and Trent Bond.
 
Notes: Ezolt (9) and Kregeloh (8) are ranked 1-2 in the PSAC in home runs this season; their 17 combined home runs are more than 12 of the other 15 teams in the league…all nine of Ezolt's homers have come in the last 24 games, a stretch in which he is batting .384 with 17 RBIs and 19 runs…factoring in his nine doubles, Ezolt has produced a team-high slugging percentage of .615 that ranks third in the PSAC…SU has 27 home runs as a team, leading the PSAC and matching its 2013 total…McClintock made the fourth start of his career and his third career appearance against Wilmington...he has allowed just three earned runs in 14.2 career innings versus the Wildcats.