SHEPHERDSTOWN, W.Va. – The Shippensburg University baseball team held off the Shepherd Rams in a 28-hit contest on Friday afternoon, 8-7, at Fairfax Field.
 
Shippensburg (17-3, 5-5 PSAC East) saw all nine members of the batting lineup notch base hits, while three Raiders tallied multiple hits.
 
Shepherd (17-10, 5-5) used a five-run seventh inning, which included a three-run homer from Cole Daugherty, to propel themselves back into a close game after trailing 8-2.
 
SU opened the scoring in the third inning with a right field single from graduate Justin Byler, bringing freshman Tony Falvo into home plate.
 
Sophomore Bryce Herb doubled the lead in the fourth, blasting his first collegiate home run over the left field wall and into the Shepherd bullpen.
 
Shepherd answered in the bottom of the fourth with an RBI-double.
 
Shippensburg began to pull away in the fifth, with Byler recording his second RBI of the contest on a fielder's choice to score sophomore Gio Calamia.
 
Byler was subsequently brought home on an RBI-single to left field from junior Morgan Wyatt.
 
The Raiders posted their final run of the inning with the bases loaded, as Shepherd's pitcher hit sophomore Jaxon Dalena and brought home junior Austin Baal.
 
Graduate Noah Nabholz quickly retired the side in the bottom of the fifth, sending all three batters down swinging.
 
With the bases loaded in the sixth, Wyatt recorded two RBIs on a single to left field.
 
The Rams added a run in the sixth before Byler notched his third RBI with a single to right field to give Calamia his second run of the day.
 
Shepherd posted five runs in the bottom of the eighth to put the pressure on Shippensburg, highlighted by Daugherty's three-run homer.
 
Nabholz earned his fourth victory of the season, striking out six batters and walking just one across six innings pitched.
 
Dalena earned his first collegiate save, pitching two-thirds of the final frame and collecting one strikeout. He is the first Raider to throw a strikeout and record an RBI in the same game since Jacob Pollock on March 8, 2020.
 
SU returns home to Fairchild Field on Saturday afternoon for a doubleheader against the Rams beginning at 12 p.m.