SHIPPENSBURG, Pa. – The Shippensburg University baseball team extended its winning streak to seven games on Sunday afternoon, courtesy of a walk-off grand slam from junior Austin Baal in a dramatic victory over Gannon, 11-8, at Fairchild Field.
 
Shippensburg (7-2) totaled 19 hits across nine innings with at least one hit in every frame. SU recorded multiple hits in 7-of-9 innings played.
 
Junior Gabe Stotler got the start for Shippensburg, pitching the first seven innings and holding Gannon (0-3) to zero runs and four hits. His dominance on the mound helped the Raiders run away with an early lead, producing four runs and ten hits across the first four frames.
 
After the fourth inning, the game became locked in a stalemate until the top of the eighth. The Golden Knights took the lead with six runs while batting through the order.
 
SU responded as junior Andrew Chronister notched his second RBI of the game with a single up the middle, allowing sophomore Carter Arbuthnot to score.
 
Baal was up next and sent to first on a walk, moving Chronister into scoring position. This set the stage for junior Morgan Wyatt to line one along the third base line that brought Chronister in to tie the game.
 
A pair of doubles in the top of the ninth gave Gannon a two-run lead before redshirt-freshman Eric Bohenek came in to get the final out of the inning.
 
After the first two batters of the frame were sent back to the dugout, sophomore Bryce Herb was tasked with keeping the game alive in his first at-bat of the night. Quickly falling behind 1-2 in the count, Herb battled pitcher Connor DeMoss in a long at-bat. Herb fouled away five pitches before lining a single up the middle.
 
Herb's at-bat shifted the momentum and opened the flood gates, as the Raiders began to load the bases. Junior Joe Barbera won an eight-pitch at-bat, earning a free trip to first on a walk. This allowed freshman Mike Heckman to step up and register his fourth hit of the day and second RBI with a single to center field, then advancing to second on a throw to home plate that was not in time.
 
With two runners in scoring position and trailing by one, Chronister had the spotlight momentarily as he stepped into the box and wore the first pitch on his back, which loaded the bases.
 
With two outs and the game on the line, Shippensburg's home run leader Baal stepped up to the plate. On the third pitch, Baal crushed the ball deep over the right field wall for a walk-off grand slam.
 
Baal's home run was the first walk-off grand slam for Shippensburg in at least 15 years, and the first grand slam since Justin Darden hit a grand slam in a 22-2 victory over Lock Haven on April 1, 2022.
 
Bohenek was awarded the win, picking up his first collegiate victory.
 
Heckman recorded four hits in six at-bats in the contest, hitting 8-12 on the weekend. He extended his hitting streak to six games and drove in five runs during the series.
 
Graduate Justin Byler notched four runs in the contest as well, extending his hitting streak to seven games.
 
The Raiders are 7-2 so far this season, their best start since 2013 when they opened the season 9-2.
 
After completing the sweep over Gannon, Shippensburg looks to continue its success at Fairchild Field with nine more games in its current homestand. SU has won 15 of the last 16 home games dating back to last season.
 
SU returns to action on Friday to begin a four-game series against Slippery Rock beginning with a single nine-inning game at 2 p.m.