KUTZTOWN, Pa. – The Shippensburg University baseball team picked up two important wins in a doubleheader sweep of Kutztown to win its Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) series on Saturday, 6-3 and 7-4, at North Campus Field.
 
Shippensburg (22-22, 9-12 PSAC East) slugged 21 hits across 17 innings, with every batter recording a least one hit on the day.
 
Kutztown (24-15, 10-8) managed just eight hits and recorded five errors.
 
Game 1
 
The Raiders took the lead early in the contest, as a double from sophomore Jaxon Dalena brought two runs across the plate. A single from junior Andrew Chronister in the subsequent at bat scored Dalena and extended the early Raiders lead to 3-0.
 
The Golden Bears scored their first run in the fourth frame and posted a pair of runs in the sixth to tie the game.
 
As Game 1 headed into extra innings, sophomores Carter Hinds and Bryce Herb led off the eighth with singles, Hinds gave SU the lead, scoring on a bunt from sophomore Carter Arbuthnot, who reached on a throwing error from the pitcher.
 
Herb pulled Shippensburg ahead even further, crossing the plate on a sacrifice fly from graduate Justin Byler. The final Raiders run came off the bat of junior Austin Baal, as he brought Arbuthnot home on a single to right field.
 
Graduate Noah Nabholz picked up his fifteenth career win, throwing his third complete game of the season to improve to 5-4 on the year. Nabholz allowed just two earned runs and did not walk any of the 33 batters he faced.
 
All but one batter notched a hit, while Hinds, Chronister, and Baal each recorded two.
 
Game 2
 
SU found itself trailing early on, allowing two runs in the bottom of the first.
 
Junior Morgan Wyatt scored Baal from third on a fielder's choice, pulling the Raiders within one temporarily.
 
Shippensburg fell behind 4-1 heading into the fourth, however a second run from Baal on a sacrifice fly from sophomore Gio Calamia cut down the deficit.
 
The Raiders exploded offensively in the sixth, as Baal opened the inning scoring with his third run of the day on a RBI-groundout from Calamia. Herb followed up that at bat with a single up the middle to send Chronister home and tie the game. After Arbuthnot singled to right and moved Herb to third base, Heckman reached on an error from the right fielder and scored Herb to take the lead. Shippensburg surged even further ahead off the back of a two-RBI single from Hinds.
 
Freshman J.T. Weaver got the start for the Raiders and pitched one inning before redshirt-freshman Eric Bohenek came in to pitch four innings of relief.
 
Bohenek earned his fifth victory of the season allowing zero earned runs and just three hits in three and a two-thirds innings.
 
Junior Austen LaBarre earned his seventh save of the season, ranking him among the top 15 on the national leaderboard.
 
Four Raiders batted above .400 in the doubleheader, with Chronister leading the way going 4-for-7 at the dish.
 
The Raiders return to Fairchild Field on Friday for a series against Mercy College. First pitch is scheduled for 3 p.m.