The Shippensburg University baseball team dropped its 2022 season opener to Belmont Abbey on Friday night by a score of 6-2 at CaroMont Health Park in Gastonia, N.C.
 
Shippensburg (0-1) and Belmont Abbey (2-0) were within one run of each other until the Crusaders scored four unearned runs in the eighth inning to take a 6-1 lead. The Raiders got one run in the top of the ninth.
 
Graduate JuJu Cason was 2-for-4 and hit a solo home run in the fifth inning that tied the score at 1-1. Fellow graduate Jordan Yoder delivered the second SU run of the game with a pinch-hit RBI-single that plated Cason.
 
Graduate Matt Shilling had a single and he also stole a base after being hit by a pitch in the eighth inning.
 
Redshirt-junior Nick Zegna made his first start as a Raider; he pitched four innings and struck out five.
 
Junior Noah Nabholz was excellent in relief. He delivered zeroes in the fifth, sixth and seventh, finishing with 3.2 innings pitched and two strikeouts.
 
The winning pitcher was Jason White, who went six innings with eight strikeouts and only allowed five base runners. Zach Aehlert had two RBIs on two hits, including a two-run home run in the eighth inning. Ben Gobbel had two hits, including a solo home run in the eighth inning.
 
Shippensburg and Belmont Abbey will play a doubleheader beginning at noon tomorrow. The teams will play a nine-inning game followed by a seven-inning game.

The first @ShipUBaseball 💣 of the year comes off the bat of JuJu Cason! pic.twitter.com/pYg9Iw5Us2

— SHIP Sports Info (@ShipURaiders) February 5, 2022