The Shippensburg University baseball team got a pair of dynamic starts Sunday from sophomore
J.T. Weaver and senior
Gabe Stotler to sweep Bloomsburg, 1-0 and 5-1, and salvage a Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Eastern Division season series split with the Huskies.
Â
Shippensburg (14-8, 8-4 PSAC East) overcame a pair of shutouts on Friday by manufacturing 13 hits on Sunday, including nine in the nightcap. Bloomsburg (6-14, 3-9) was limited to just eight total hits on the day, with its lone run coming on a pinch-hit RBI-single in the fifth inning of Game 2 by Dansby Keenan.
Â
Weaver was masterful, pitching into the seventh inning of the opener. He scattered four hits, walked one, and struck out a career-high 12 batters. His previous career high had been nine strikeouts on two other occasions. It is the first double-digit strikeout game by a Raider since Nick Zegna struck out 13 at Slippery Rock in the 2022 PSAC Tournament.
Â
Stotler, pitching for the first time in nearly two weeks, scattered a run on three hits over the course of five innings. He struck out four and did not walk a batter. Freshman
Conner Barto struck out two in a scoreless sixth, and senior
Ethan Miller got the final three outs.
Â
Miller once again pitched in both games of a doubleheader. He entered in the bottom of the seventh of Game 1 after a one-out double yielded by Weaver. Miller promptly struck out the next batter and got a foul out to record his second save of the season.
Â
The only run of the opener was a first-inning sacrifice fly by graduate
Justin Byler. SU got on the board in Game 2 with a second-inning solo home run by senior
Austin Baal. In the third, sophomore
Mike Heckman hit an RBI-single to make it 2-0.
Â
The Raiders added three insurance runs in the sixth, courtesy of an RBI-single by freshman
Brady Harbach, a fortuitous bunt by senior
Brock Piper, and a Husky fielding error.
Â
Baal was 3-for-6 on the day with a walk. Byler, Harbach,
Gio Calamia and
Carter Hinds finished the doubleheader with two total hits.
Â
Shippensburg is next in action at 3 p.m. Tuesday at No. 24 Seton Hill.
Â
