The Shippensburg University baseball team went toe-to-toe with No. 5 Catawba on a cool Saturday in North Carolina but ultimately came up short against the Indians, dropping a 9-6 nine-inning game and a 7-2 seven-inning game to the Indians from Newman Park.
 
Shippensburg (0-5) held a 6-0 lead through the first three innings of the opener, and was within one run of Catawba (6-2), 3-2, entering the bottom of the sixth inning in the nightcap. The Raiders finished the day with 17 hits and allowed just seven earned runs.
 
A four-run third inning in Game 1 featured three Shippensburg home runs. SU went back-to-back, as sophomore Tony Vavaroutsos deposited a two-run homer over the center-field fence before junior Ben Werkheiser launched one over the left-center field fence just two pitches later. Junior Logan Williamson homered on the first pitch of his at-bat later in the inning.
 
Vavaroutsos hit a home run in each game – he finished the day 4-for-8 at the plate with a pair of runs scored. Williamson was 3-for-6, while sophomore Lake Lloyd had a two-run double in the opener and an RBI-single in the nightcap.
 
SU's starting pitchers were solid. Redshirt-junior Noah Inch allowed three runs (two earned) on eight hits in the opener over 5.1 innings, striking out three without a walk.
 
Senior Kyle Lysy had seven runs of the nightcap credited against him but only one was earned. The final three on his record scored after he was replaced by a reliever. Lysy walked three and struck out five, allowing seven hits in 5.2 innings.
 
Shippensburg will play one more with Catawba on Sunday, with the start time now 1 p.m. from Newman Park.