SHIPPENSBURG, Pa. – The Shippensburg University baseball team secured a victory in its four-game Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Eastern Division series with Kutztown on Monday by splitting an afternoon doubleheader with the Golden Bears, winning Game 2 by a 6-2 score after falling 3-2 in Game 1 on a gorgeous, 70-degree afternoon at Fairchild Field.
 
Shippensburg (14-16, 10-6 PSAC East) sits in third place in the PSAC Eastern Division by two games, having now won two series and splitting another. The Raiders have won nine of their last 12 conference games overall and have three divisional series (Millersville, Bloomsburg, West Chester) remaining in the regular season.
 
The SU pitching staff got two more quality starts, continuing a recent turnaround on the mound. Junior Rich Michaud improved to 3-3 with the Game 2 win, rebounding from a tough go in his last outing by scattering a run on four hits through five innings and 58 pitches. He struck out two.
 
Sophomore Josh Kutchey entered into a bases-loaded, no-out situation in the seventh inning and immediately induced an infield fly and a RBI-fielder's choice to get two outs on the scoreboard. Two batters later, he worked a groundout to record his first save of the season.
 
Sophomore Mark Curtis had a quality start in Game 1, allowing three runs on seven hits in 6.2 innings. Curtis, who got the save in the first game of the series, walked three and struck out five.
 
Sophomore Jake Kennedy had four hits on the day, including his 12^th home run of the year in the first inning of Game 2. Freshman Grant Hoover and senior Jimmy Spanos each provided three singles, with Hoover adding an RBI and a steal that came on a botched rundown.
 
Senior Cody Ezolt had a hit in four at-bats but reached base four times – drawing two walks and getting hit by a pitch. Junior Mike Marcinko had an RBI-single and two walks on the day.
 
Kutztown (12-10, 4-10) was one out away from getting swept in the series. Trailing 2-1 in the top of the seventh in Game 1, Brady McNab laced an opposite-field double with two outs to plate pinch hitter Ricky Gorrell (who singled to begin the inning). The Golden Bears maintained their good fortune in the next at-bat, as Ryan Cox sent a half-squib, half-chop past Curtis that took a weird bounce off the back of the pitcher's mound and spun its way into center field for a go-ahead single.
 
Shippensburg will host UPJ at 1 p.m. Tuesday in a doubleheader at Fairchild Field.