Gallery: (2-7-2025) 2025 Baseball at Catawba
The Shippensburg University baseball team saw its ninth-inning comeback fall short in a season-opening loss to No. 4 Catawba Friday afternoon in sunny Salisbury, North Carolina; 6-4.
Shippensburg (0-1) started and finished strong against what has become a familiar early season opponent for the Raiders. Senior shortstop
Carter Hinds began the 2025 campaign with a bang, crushing a leadoff homer to start the top of the first inning, and the Raiders pushed across three runs and threatened for more in the ninth.
After Hinds' blast staked the Raiders to a 1-0 lead, senior
Jaxon Dalena picked up right where he left off last season on the mound, dominating the No. 4-ranked Indians the first time through the batting order.
Catawba (3-2) later touched the SU ace for four runs, taking advantage of several well-placed hits and a wild pitch. Dalena finished with seven strikeouts in four innings of work.
The Indians tacked on two more runs in the sixth against the Raider bullpen and led the visitors 6-1 with just three outs remaining.
Sophomore
Ty Sherman ignited SU's ninth-inning rally with a leadoff single, and freshman
Thomas Cano-Piszel followed with his first collegiate hit – a pinch-hit double to put runners on second and third with nobody out.
Back-to-back RBI groundouts from freshman
Kyle Ausgotharp and senior
Bryce Herb scored both baserunners.
With two outs and the bases clear, the Raiders continued to rally. Hinds and senior
Gio Calamia both singled, and junior
AJ Wenrich was hit by a pitch to load the bases.
After a call to the Catawba bullpen, sophomore
Mason Morris worked a walk to score Hinds, making it a two-run game.
With the tying run in scoring position and the go-ahead run on base, Catawba reliever Joe Burleyson retired the next batter on a comebacker to escape with the win.
Hinds finished 3-for-4 at the plate with two runs and an RBI for Shippensburg. Herb and Sherman each went 2-for-4, while Morris reached base four times out of the cleanup spot in his Raider debut, going 1-for-2 with three walks.
Freshman designated hitter
Will Oates also notched a hit in his collegiate debut Friday.
Redshirt-Senior pitcher
Cameron Goble posted the longest outing of his SU career, taking down three innings out of the Raider bullpen. Junior
Brenden Anderson pitched a scoreless inning of relief.
Catawba starter Austin Fine nearly went the distance, scattering seven hits and striking out five over eight frames. His battery mate, catcher Matthew Connolly, went 2-for-3 at the plate with an RBI and two runs scored.
Shippensburg plays Game 2 of the season-opening series at Catawba Saturday at 1 p.m.
