JOHNSTOWN, Pa. – The Shippensburg University baseball team started off strong and held off a late charge from host Pitt-Johnstown on Tuesday to claim an 8-7 non-conference victory on a sunny and warm afternoon at Point Stadium.
 
Shippensburg (17-15) started out with five straight singles and opened up a 3-0 lead after one. SU scored two more in the third and two more in the fourth and led 7-1 after four innings.
 
Pitt-Johnstown (13-18) rallied with six runs spanning the fifth through the seventh innings. In an 8-7 game in the seventh with runners on the corners and one out, sophomore Brenden Anderson (Georgetown, Del./Sussex Central) entered out of the bullpen and got a four-pitch strikeout and a groundout to keep the Raiders in the lead.
 
Anderson threw the final 2.2 innings and held the Mountain Cats scoreless to pick up his second save of the season. The only baserunner he allowed was a hit-by-pitch in the eighth inning.
 
SU had 14 hits – all singles. The Top 3 men in the Raider lineup combined for seven hits and seven stolen bases. Junior Carter Hinds was 3-for-6 with three runs and two steals. Junior Gio Calamia was 2-for-5 with three steals and two runs. Graduate Justin Byler was 2-for-3 with two RBI, two steals and three runs.
 
Junior Carter Arbuthnot was 3-for-5 with three RBI. Senior Austin Baal had an RBI-single, and senior Brock Piper had two hits.
 
Freshman Kaleb Maksimik had a strong first collegiate start, retiring the first seven batters he faced. Maksimik finished one out shy of being eligible for the win, throwing 4.2 innings, allowing four runs (three earned) on four hits with seven strikeouts. Two of the runs against him came after his departure.
 
Senior Ray Winter picked up his first collegiate win, scattering three hits and a run over 1.1 innings.
 
It was the fourth meeting of the season between the Mountain Cats and the Raiders. SU swept UPJ in a three-game series back in February by scores of 8-7, 3-2 and 8-4 at Fairchild Field.
 
Shippensburg hosts Lock Haven at 1 p.m. Friday for a Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Eastern Division doubleheader at Fairchild Field.