SHIPPENSBURG, Pa. – The Shippensburg University baseball team swept Shepherd in a Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Eastern Division matchup on Friday afternoon at Fairchild Field. The Raiders picked up a well-earned 4-2 win in Game One before taking an eventful 11-9 victory in Game Two.
 
Junior Jaxon Dalena tossed his first career complete game in Game One for Shippensburg (16-9, 10-3 PSAC East). Dalena struck out a career-best 13 batters, allowing two runs (one earned) on three hits.
 
Junior Carter Hinds led the Raiders with five hits on the day, finishing 5-for-9 at the plate with two doubles, two RBI, three steals and four runs scored. Senior Austin Baal had a three-hit day, crushing three doubles in game two. Baal drove in two runs and scored one run. 
 
Junior Bryce Herb went 2-for-4, totaling two RBIs, three steals, a sacrifice and two runs scored.
 
Game One: Shippensburg 4, Shepherd 2
 
The Raiders got on the board early with senior Andrew Chronister bringing a run home via a fielder's choice in the first. Hinds led off the game with a single, and a walk and a fielder's choice loaded the bases for Raider catcher.
 
Shepherd (8-14, 3-7) pitcher Daniel Quintana settled in, allowing two hits over the next three innings. Dalena shoved through the first three frames, picking up strikeouts for each of his first eight outs on the mound.
 
A double by Hinds led off the bottom of the fifth inning. A single by junior Gio Calamia moved Hinds to third, and a throwing error brought Hinds in to score. A sacrifice fly by graduate Justin Byler in the next at-bat gave SU a 3-0 lead.
 
An error to start the sixth inning gave the Rams a baserunner at first. Two batters later, Sam Daggers took Dalena deep to left field to make it a 3-2 ballgame.
 
The Raiders responded with a run back in the bottom half of the sixth. Sophomore Mike Heckman reached on an error and stole second. A groundball moved Heckman over to third, and a sacrifice fly by freshman Brady Harbach made it 4-2.
 
Dalena went one-two-three in the top of the seventh to close out the win and a career-best pitching performance.
 
Game Two: Shippensburg 11, Shepherd 9
 
It was an exciting game two between the two sides. The Raiders built a 6-0 lead through the first two innings before the Rams used a five-run third inning to make it a ballgame. The Raiders and Rams went back-and-forth for the remainder of the game with the Raiders pulling out the win.
 
A Hinds base-hit kicked off the SU offense in game two, reaching second base on a double. A groundout advanced Hinds to third for Byler, who brought in the first run of the game with a single through the right side. Baal doubled in the next at-bat to bring in Byler. The Raider rally continued with Chronister reaching base, and Heckman made it a 3-0 game with a double down the third base line.
 
The Raiders offensive momentum continued into the second inning, going for three more runs to make it a 6-0 ballgame. Herb and Hinds opened the inning with consecutive singles. Both runners stole a base before Byler tripled both runners home. Baal came back up to the plate, hitting his second RBI double of the game.
 
Shepherd came storming back with a five-run third inning to make it a 6-5 game. The Rams scored two runs before they loaded the bases. A walk brought in the third run, and consecutive singles scored the next two runs of the game.
 
The Raiders answered with a run in the third and three more in the fourth to build their lead back up to five runs.
 
Hinds brought in the run in the third inning to make it 7-5. Chronister was hit with a pitch to lead off the fourth, and singles by freshman Brady Harbach and graduate Morgan Wyatt loaded the bases with one out. A single through the left side by Hinds brought in two more to make it 9-5. Calamia brought another run home on a groundout to make it 10-5.
 
Shepherd plated two runs in each of the fifth and sixth innings. Idris Carter brought in two runs in the fifth inning with a double. The Rams rallied again in the sixth inning with the help of two errors by Shippensburg to get their first run of the inning. Shepherd continued to rally, loading the bases before a sacrifice fly would make it a 10-9 game.
 
Hinds gave the Raiders some insurance with an RBI single in the bottom of the sixth. Freshman Conner Barto closed out the game for the Riders. Barto came on in relief in the sixth inning, working the final five outs of the game to earn a save.
 
Ryan Gleason got the start for Shippensburg and earned the victory. He was charged with seven runs over five innings, though only two of the runs were earned.
 
Wyatt reached base in three of his four trips during the nightcap, finishing 2-for-3 with a double and a hit by pitch.
 
Shippensburg is scheduled to play at Shepherd tomorrow, with the doubleheader beginning at 1 p.m. at Fairfax Field.