SHIPPENSBURG, Pa. – The Shippensburg University baseball team slugged 13 extra-base hits and batted .433 as a team on Friday in posting its first doubleheader sweep of West Chester since 2013, as the Raiders defeated the No. 22-ranked Golden Rams by scores of 8-5 and 15-14 on a rainy, damp day at Fairchild Field.
 
Shippensburg (14-18, 6-8 PSAC East) totaled 29 hits and scored 23 runs – achieving the sweep despite yielding 10 runs in the third inning of Game 2 to West Chester (17-10, 8-6). All nine Raiders had at least one hit in the doubleheader, including five players who finished the day with four or more hits.
 
It was a day at the plate to remember for both senior Jack Goertzen and freshman Anthony Vavaroutsos. The duo combined for five home runs, 10 total hits, 12 RBIs and 10 runs scored. Goertzen was 4-for-8 with three homers (two in Game 2, including a go-ahead three-run shot to dead center in the fifth) and six RBIs. Vavaroutsos was 6-for-8 with two homers, three doubles, and six RBIs – including a walk-off sacrifice fly in Game 2.
 
Senior Ty Painter was 4-for-6 with a triple, two RBIs, a walk and three runs scored. Senior Tommy Baggett finished 4-for-9 with two doubles and four RBIs. Junior Zack Zoller hit four singles and scored four runs.
 
Sophomore Scout Knotts had three hits, including an RBI-double, while sophomore Logan Williamson singled twice and scored a run. Freshman Justin Darden hit an RBI-double and junior Jacob Pollock had an RBI-single.
 
Senior Zack Sims won the opener with a complete-game effort, scattering five runs (four earned) on six hits while striking out six. Freshman Jared Showalter got the Game 2 win by completing the seventh inning.
 
Shippensburg scored 10 runs in the first inning on Friday. The Raiders sent nine men to the plate in the first inning of Game 1, scoring four times, and 10 men to the plate in the first inning of Game 2, scoring six times. SU held a 7-1 lead after four innings in Game 1 before staving off a late rally from the Golden Rams.
 
Game 2 was bonkers. Shippensburg led 8-1 after two innings, capped off by a two-run homer in the second from Vavaroutsos, before West Chester erupted for a 10-spot in the third to take an 11-8 lead. The Golden Rams sent 15 men to the plate in the third, with All-American Jared Melone hitting both a two-run homer and an RBI-triple in the inning. Melone finished a single shy of the cycle in Game 2.
 
With SU trailing 12-8 in the bottom of the fourth, Goertzen launched the first of his two Game 2 home runs onto the hill in right-center field to make it 12-9. Then, in the bottom of the fifth, Shippensburg scored five runs with two outs to take a 14-12 lead.
 
After the first two batters were retired, Painter and Zoller delivered back-to-back singles. Baggett then singled home Painter to make it 12-10. On a 1-1 pitch, Goertzen sent a nuke over the center-field fence to put the Raiders up 13-12. Three pitches later, Vavaroutsos homered onto the hill in right-center field to make it 14-12.
 
In the midst of a precipitation deluge in the seventh, the Golden Rams tied the game with a two-run double to right field off Showalter. With the bases loaded and one out, Showalter then induced a flyout to short right, and Knotts unleashed a perfect throw home to dismiss the runner attempting to score from third. It was Knotts' fourth outfield assist of the year.
 
In the bottom of the seventh, Painter led off with a four-pitch walk before another short delay allowed the pitcher's mound to be treated. Zoller then reached on an error, and two batters later, Goerzten walked on four pitches to load the bases. With one out, Vavaroutsos sent the first pitch just deep enough into left field to allow Painter to race home and beat the throw to ensure the Raiders a sweep.
 
The doubleheader featured multiple downpours at times – in particular the fifth inning of Game 1 and the seventh inning of Game 2. Rain was frequent throughout the opener but remained at bay for the majority of Game 2 until its conclusion.
 
Friday marks the first time that Shippensburg has swept a doubleheader against West Chester since Apr. 21, 2013. That day, Cal Hogan hit a walk-off single in the 10th inning of Game 1 for a 5-4 win and Nick Massetti struck out eight in Game 2 for a 5-2 victory.
 
UP NEXT: Saturday, 1 p.m. at West Chester (DH).