SHIPPENSBURG, Pa. - The Shippensburg University baseball team swept Kutztown in a Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Eastern Division matchup Saturday afternoon at Fairchild Field.
 
Shippensburg (26-18, 19-13 PSAC East) took a comfortable 6-3 victory in Game 1 and held on in Game 2 for a tight 3-2 win. SU celebrated Senior Day, honoring nine athletes in between games, and were able to successfully clinch a spot in the upcoming PSAC Tournament as a result of Saturday's games.
 
Kutztown (16-30, 9-19) outhit the Raiders by a 15-12 margin between the two games, including a 10-4 advantage in the hit column during the nightcap. The Raiders made just one error in Game 2 while the Golden Bears combined for four miscues.
 
Senior Brock Piper led the Raiders with three hits on the day. Piper managed all his hits in Game 1, going 3-for-4 at the plate with an RBI and a run scored. Senior Austin Baal launched his ninth homerun of the season in Game 2 to give SU an early cushion.
 
Graduate Justin Byler and junior Carter Hinds each had a two-hit day. Hinds went 2-for-7 with three RBI and a run scored. Byler finished both games going 1-for-3 at the plate with an RBI and a run scored. Sophomore Mike Heckman also had a multi-hit day.
 
Graduate Ryan Gleason put together another great effort on the mound to earn his fifth win of the season. Gleason struck out a season-high nine batters working through six innings in the opener.
 
Senior Ethan Miller picked up two saves from Saturday's outings. Miller came on to pick up two outs in Game 1 and stranded two runners in scoring position in the sixth inning of Game 2 to help SU close out both games.
 
Sophomore J.T. Weaver, senior Gabe Stotler, and freshman Ryan Novakowski each tossed two scoreless innings in Game 2.
 
Game One: Shippensburg 6, Kutztown 3
 
The SU bats supported Gleason's dominant effort with a quick two spot in first inning and added three more in the fourth to stake the left-hander to a comfortable 5-0 lead. The Golden Bears came to life in the seventh inning, scoring three runs off the Raider bullpen before Miller extinguished the rally.
 
Gleason allowed just one hit over his six scoreless innings.
 
Hinds was 1-for-3 with three RBI out of the leadoff spot. Piper was a perfect 3-for-3 at the plate with an RBI and a run scored. Byler and Heckman each went 1-for-3 with an RBI in the game. Senior Andrew Chronister and junior Gio Calamia each picked up a hit and a run scored.
 
A one-out triple by Calamia to the gap in left-centerfield gave SU a quick runner in scoring position. A double by Byler over the left fielder's head gave SU a 1-0 lead. Heckman singled back up the middle drove in Byler to make it 2-0.
 
Gleason cruised through the early innings, going three-up, three-down in the second and striking out the side in the third.
 
A single by Chronister and a walk by graduate Morgan Wyatt gave SU two baserunners with nobody out in the fourth. A double by Piper drove in Chronister, and a two-bagger by Hinds in the next at-bat drove in two more. A groundout by Hinds in the sixth inning would drive in another run to make it 6-0.
 
A walk, a double and a single kicked off the KU's last chance seventh inning before an out was recorded. Another single and double drove in two more runs to cut the SU lead to 6-3.
 
With one out, Miller took the mound to force a lineout and a flyout to end Game 1.
 
Game Two: Shippensburg 3, Kutztown 2
 
After exploding for three runs in the first inning, SU held a 3-0 lead through the game before another late rally by Kutztown tightened the game late. Miller used a strikeout and a flyout to get out of a bases loaded jam and earn the save.
 
The Raiders rotated through their pitchers in Game 2 as Weaver, Stotler and Novakowski posted zeros. All three allowed two hits apiece.
 
SU managed just four hits and did not draw a walk in the ballgame. Baal and Byler delivered the Raiders' RBI, both going 1-for-3 at the plate. Baal's two-run blast in the first inning would turn out to be the game-winning hit. Byler drove in the only other run for the Raiders with a RBI double in the first inning.
 
Hinds and Heckman picked up the only other hits for SU in the ballgame.
 
Weaver got the start on the mound, striking out a batter in his outing. Weaver stranded a runner at second in the first and the bases loaded in the second.
 
Stotler took the mound for the third and fourth innings, picking up his fourth win of the season. Stotler left three runners stranded and picked up a strikeout in that span. Novakowski came on for Stotler in the fifth inning to collect six outs and set up the save opportunity for Miller.
 
Four consecutive singles scored two runs and opened up a late Kutztown rally in the top of the seventh inning. With runners on first and second, a sacrifice bunt moved both runners into scoring position with one out.
 
A big strikeout for Miller gave SU its second out, but a walk to the next batter loaded the bases. With two outs, a ball driven to right field was tracked down by freshman Ty Sherman for the final out.
 
SU concludes its regular season schedule when it hosts Frostburg State Wednesday at 3 p.m. at Fairchild Field.