The Shippensburg University baseball team picked up a big four-game sweep against Kutztown University this weekend, as the end of the regular season approaches.
With the team’s two wins Saturday, the Raiders took sole possession of second place in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) East Division, clinching a PSAC playoff spot.
The four-game series started on Friday with Military Appreciation Day. Shippensburg took game one 6–2 on the shoulders of two RBIs from both Nick Spangler and Dalton Hoiles. Gabe Mosser turned in an impressive outing on the hill, giving up just two runs over seven innings with nine strikeouts.
In Game 2 Hoiles and Spangler stayed hot at the plate. Hoiles scored the first two runs of the game by stealing home in the second and crushing a solo shot in the fourth. Kutztown got on the board in the fifth with an RBI single from Bo Rottet, to make it a one-run game.
SU and Spangler would answer in the bottom half of the inning with an RBI single of their own to make it a 3–1 game. Zack Sims picked up his fifth win in Game 2 while Andy Crum got the final two outs for his first save of the season.
Game 3 started in similar fashion to the first two, with the Raiders taking an early lead. In the third inning, Tommy Bagget scored on a throwing error and Cash Gladfelter smacked a double into right center field to score Ryan McMillen. This would be the only offense necessary as Shippensburg went on to win 2-0.
Mark Curtis took the mound in Game 3 for Shippensburg and turned in his best outing of the season. Curtis came very close to a no hitter, giving up just one hit and one walk through seven innings. While he fell just shy of a no-hitter, the performance was good enough for his fifth win of the season.
In Game 4, Spangler came through once again with a two-RBI single in the fifth to give the Raiders a 2–0 lead. This hit capped off an impressive weekend for the junior. Spangler finished the four-game series with five hits and five RBIs. Shippensburg added another run in the sixth and two more in the seventh to secure a 5–0 win.
Shippensburg outscored Kutztown 16–3 in the four-game sweep. The wins move SU to 25–18–1 on the year with one week left in the regular season. The team will play one game against Seton Hill University today and finish the season with a four-game series against Millersville University this weekend.
The Raiders will then compete in the PSAC championships starting Wednesday, May 10.
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