SHIPPENSBURG, Pa. – The Shippensburg University baseball team dropped two games Sunday, 9-3 and 6-1, against No. 4 Southern New Hampshire on sunny and chilly day from Fairchild Field.
 
Shippensburg (2-8) salvaged a series split against Southern New Hampshire (6-3) after beating the Penmen in the first two games of the series on Friday and Saturday.
 
Junior Grant Hoover continued to swing a hot bat for the Raiders, finishing the day 3-for-6 with a double, two runs scored while driving in one run. Sophomore Jack Goertzen also compiled three hits on the afternoon including two doubles. Hoover and Goertzen combined for 16 hits over the four games, driving in seven runs for the Raiders.
 
Game One
 
The Raiders struggled to find their bats early on and fell behind the Penmen, 6-0, before responding with three runs of their own. In the bottom of the fifth, Hoover drove in the Raiders' first run on an RBI-single to right, scoring sophomore Drew Bene.
 
Three batters later, senior Ryan McMillen added another SU run with a single to right field that scored Goertzen. Junior Nick Spangler would drive the third SU run in on a groundout to pull the Raiders within three with two innings to play.
 
The Penmen would add three insurance runs late to seal the victory, 9-3. Senior Mark Curtis started on the mound for the Raiders, pitching 5.2 innings while recording nine strikeouts. Freshman Kyle Lysy relieved Curtis in the sixth, pitching 1.1 innings and tallying two strikeouts.
 
Bene and Goertzen both finished the game 2-for-3 with one run scored.
 
Game Two
 
The Penmen got a complete-game effort out of Alex Person, who kept the Raider bats quiet over nine innings of work.
 
Hoover was the only Raider to record a multi-hit game, going 2-for-3 with one run scored. Goertzen, Spangler and sophomore Cash Gladfelter were the only other Raiders to tally a hit in the loss.
 
Junior Gabe Mosser started for SU, pitching six innings while striking out five. Freshman Jacob Menders and sophomore Michael Hope pitched out of the bullpen for Shippensburg, combining to throw three shutout innings while striking out three.
 
Shippensburg will return to action Friday at 3 p.m. when it hosts LeMoyne at Fairchild Field. The Raiders and Dolphins will play a three-game series, consisting of a nine-inning game each day of the weekend.