The Shippensburg University baseball team dropped a pair of games Saturday to open its 2015 season, falling 12-5 in a nine-inning game and 10-9 in a seven-inning game to the Crusaders of Belmont Abbey on a 55-degree day at the Abbey Yard in Belmont, N.C.
 
Shippensburg put on its spikes for the first time on Friday when it practiced at Eastern Mennonite University and was experiencing a baseball diamond Saturday after weeks of practices held either inside a field house or outside on a parking lot.
 
The Raiders yielded 22 runs yet scored 14 of their own, slamming five home runs and totaling eight extra-base hits. Belmont Abbey (2-2) committed eight errors to SU's three, but the Crusaders did manage 21 hits on the day.
 
Junior shortstop Mike Marcinko went 4-for-8 with two solo home runs, including a leadoff bomb and a game-tying shot in Game 2, to go along with three runs and a stolen base.
 
Sophomore catcher Jake Kennedy continued to swing for the fences by clubbing two home runs, including a grand slam in Game 2. He also walked twice. Senior Cody Ezolt played center field in both games; he hit a two-run home run in Game 2 and walked three times on the day.
 
Sophomore Ryan McMillen, junior Austin Allison and freshman Calvin Sichler all had two hits on the day, with McMillen doubling twice and Sichler doubling in Game 1 for SU's first hit of the year. Freshman left fielder Grant Hoover had a two-run single in Game 2.
 
Junior Marcus Shippey took the loss as the Game 1 starter, while sophomore Mark Curtis took a no decision as the Game 2 starter. Sophomore closer Josh Kutchey was stuck with the Game 2 loss in relief.
 
Shippensburg concludes its three-game series with the Crusaders at 1 p.m. Sunday from the Abbey Yard.
 
Game 1: BAC 12, SHIP 5
Belmont Abbey scored three runs in each of the first three innings against Shippey. The Raiders scored once in the third on an error but left the bases loaded. Ezolt hit a two-run home run in the fifth, scoring McMillen, and Kennedy hit a two-run home run in the eighth, scoring Ezolt.
 
Junior Kyle McClintock threw four strong innings of relief in the opener, allowing one earned run on four hits while striking out four. Senior Kevin Richter gave up a run in the eighth.
 
Game 2: BAC 10, SHIP 9
Shippensburg scored seven runs in the top of the first inning, chasing the Belmont Abbey starter before the inning was over. Marcinko led off with the homer before an error and two walks loaded the bases. That setup Kennedy's grand slam, making the score 5-0 Raiders before an out had been recorded. Hoover's two-run single came with one out and gave SU a sizable advantage.
 
Belmont Abbey immediately answered with four runs in the bottom of the first, however, scoring three times with two outs on a passed ball and a two-run homer. McMillen doubled home a run in the third to make it 8-4, but the Crusaders plated solo runs in the third and the fourth and three more in the fifth to take a 9-8 lead.
 
SU tied the score with two outs remaining as Marcinko homered against BAC closer Ryan Allen in the seventh, but the Crusaders again answered with a walk-off single in the bottom half of the frame after a leadoff hit-by-pitch came around to score.