The Shippensburg University baseball team began its 2019 season Friday in competitive fashion against a seasoned Catawba squad, but the Raiders came up short in both games of a doubleheader, falling 13-1 and 4-3 in action from Newman Park in North Carolina.
 
Shippensburg (0-2) cranked out at least seven hits in each game. Nine different Raiders finished the day with at least one hit. SU also received solid starts on the mound from senior Zack Sims and sophomore Dalton Oates; the two men combined to yield just three earned runs in 11 innings of work against a squad that had scored 78 runs through its first nine games.
 
Catawba (10-1), already in its third week of the regular season, got five hits on the day from Jeremy Simpson along with a home run and five RBIs from reigning All-SAC Jackson Raper. Hunter Shepherd threw for the win in the opener and also hit a two-run homer.
 
In Game 1, senior catcher Jack Goertzen gave the Raiders a 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning by smacking a two-out solo home run to center field on a 1-2 pitch. Goertzen finished the doubleheader reaching base five times, going 4-for-7 with three RBIs and a walk. Senior Tommy Baggett doubled in both games.
 
Sims threw six innings in the opener, allowing six runs (two earned) in a 91-pitch outing. He walked two and struck out one.
 
Oates threw a whale of a game in the nightcap, putting the Raiders in position for the win entering the final two innings. Making just his second collegiate start, Oates struck out 10 batters over five innings, allowing just one run on five hits and walking just one batter. Oates matched his freshman season strikeout total on Friday in one outing.
 
A special feat achieved by Oates was striking out four batters in one inning. In the bottom of the third, Oates struck out the No. 9 batter and then the leadoff batter – who reached on a wild pitch. After an error, Oates proceeded to strike out the No. 3 and No. 4 hitters in the Indians lineup to achieve the feat.
 
The Raiders took a 2-1 lead in the third inning of the nightcap after a leadoff bunt single by senior Ty Painter, a double from Baggett, and a two-run single from Goertzen. SU extended its lead to 3-1 entering the bottom of the sixth after freshman Justin Darden singled home sophomore Scout Knotts, who had reached base at the start of the inning after getting hit by a pitch.
 
Senior Michael Hope entered in relief in the sixth, but was tagged for three unearned runs. With the tying runs in scoring position and two outs, an error resulted in the Indians tying the score and the batter reaching second base. An RBI-single in the ensuing at-bat plated the go-ahead run.
 
UP NEXT: Saturday, 1 p.m. at Catawba (9-inning game).