This weekend, the Shippensburg University baseball team swept Gannon in its weekend series against the Golden Knights. The Raiders were down to their final strike in the bottom of the ninth with the bases loaded when junior Austin Baal hit a walk off grand slam in the final game of the series.
Coming into Sunday’s match, the Raiders swept the Saturday double header against Gannon 10-2 and 4-1.
In the first game, the Raiders offense broke the game open and scored seven runs in the first inning. The scoring onslaught started when junior Morgan Wyatt hit a single to center field which sent sophomore Jaxon Dalena home. Later in the inning, Justin Byler drove in two more runs with a single to left center, scoring Baal and junior Andrew Chroniste, giving the Raiders a 3-0 lead.
Junior Joe Barbera hit a single that allowed Byer and Wyatt to score, and the Raiders extended their lead to five runs. The Raiders scored two more runs in the first inning with a ground out that scored a runner and base hit up the middle.
In the second inning, the Golden Knights got on the board when senior Cameron Vozel scored after the Raiders turned a double play.
The Raiders responded in the bottom half of the second with a double from freshman Mike Heckman that sent two runners across. The Raiders extended their lead to 9-1.
In the top of the third inning, redshirt senior Ian Hess hit a homerun to left field, and the Golden Knights added another run in the game 9-2.
In the fourth inning, Heckman drove in a run with a base hit and extended the Raiders’ lead to 10-2. The Raiders won the first game 10-2.
In Game 2, the Raiders scored one run in the first and fourth innings and two runs in the fifth. The Golden Knights were only able to get one run in the game and the Raiders beat the Golden Knights 3-1 in the second half of Saturday’s double header.
On Sunday, the teams played the final game of the weekend. The Raiders jumped out to a four-run lead and scored four runs in four innings. The Golden Knights responded with six runs in the top of the eighth inning. In the bottom of the eighth, the Raiders tied the game with two base hits from Chronister and Wyatt.
In the top of the ninth, the Golden Knights scored two runs and led the game 8-6. In the bottom of the ninth, the Raiders scored five runs and walked off the Golden Knights with a grand slam, completing the three-game sweep of the Golden Knights.
The Raiders will host Slippery Rock for a four-game set next weekend.
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