Gallery: (5-7-2026) 2026 Baseball vs. IUP (PSACs)
SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. – The Shippensburg University baseball team was bested Thursday night in a Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Tournament clash against Western Division No. 2 seed IUP, falling 5-2 to the Crimson Hawks on a cold night at Jack Critchfield Park.
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Shippensburg (29-20) received five solid innings on the mound from junior
Conner Barto, who battled through some adversity to strike out a career-high nine batters while scattering two runs on four hits.
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IUP (31-20) starter Derrick Shields retired the first 19 batters he faced en route to a complete-game victory. He allowed just two hits (a seventh-inning triple and a ninth-inning solo home run by junior
Ty Sherman, walked none and struck out 12.
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The opposition opened the scoring in the bottom of the first inning by scratching across a run. A bloop double up the middle that fell in between multiple fielders was sandwiched between a pair of Barto strikeouts. A pair of full-count pitches resulted in walks to load the bases, before a third full-count pitch ended up in a walk that brought in a run. Barto ultimately fanned the No. 7 batter to strike out the side.
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Barto skillfully escaped a bases-loaded, no-out jam in the bottom of the fourth. After a walk, an error on a bunt and an infield single, Barto struck out Teague Hoover, worked a lineout to shortstop
Mike Heckman and induced a comebacker to keep the game 1-0.
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A two-out double in the bottom of the fifth expanded the lead for the Crimson Hawks to 2-0. Barto's day ended after five innings, having thrown 113 pitches.
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Bryce Amos retired the side in order in the sixth, striking out two. Sherman's triple with one out in the top of the seventh was a fly ball up the right-field line that fell between three charging fielders – he scored one batter later on an RBI groundout by
AJ Wenrich.
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Amos struck out the first batter in the bottom of the seventh, walked the next man and then worked a flyout. IUP then countered with a two-run home run to make the score 4-1. After a walk followed the round tripper,
Brenden Anderson came out of the bullpen and ended the inning with a strikeout.
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The Crimson Hawks plated an unearned run in the bottom of the eighth off Anderson –
Jack Robinson came out of the bullpen with two outs to get the final out of the frame.
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With two outs in the top of the ninth, Sherman hit a no-doubter over the left-center field fence for his sixth home run of the season to create the final margin.
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The two teams combined to strikeout 25 times. Walks were 8-0 in IUP's favor. Shields, through 69.2 innings this season, has issued just seven walks.
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Shippensburg, currently the No. 7 team in the NCAA Atlantic Regional rankings, will await the results of the NCAA Selection Show on Sunday night. Six teams from the Atlantic Region (PSAC champion, Mountain East champion and four at-large bids) will qualify for the NCAA Tournament.
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The loss likely signals the final game for the six members of the SU senior class: Amos, Anderson, Heckman,
Franklin Muendel, Robinson and Wenrich.
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The four pitchers of the group – Amos, Anderson, Muendel and Robinson – combined for 146 appearances (29 by Amos, 64 by Anderson, 14 by Muendel, 39 by Robinson) and 235 innings pitched (62.1 by Amos, 114.1 by Anderson, 12.0 by Muendel, 46.1 by Robinson). The quartet amassed 17 pitching victories.
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Heckman and Wenrich, the lone field players of the group, combined for 277 games in a Raider uniform (178 by Heckman, 99 by Wenrich). In a four-year Raider career, Heckman delivered 149 hits and 98 runs while making 154 starts. Wenrich compiled 105 hits in his two SU seasons – a total that included 23 home runs – and added 80 RBIs.
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