Michael Douglas tried to set the tone with a lead-off home run over the left field fence for the Raiders, but errors doomed the Shippensburg University baseball team early in an 11–3 loss to Indiana University of Pa. on Tuesday afternoon at Fairchild Field.
IUP (13–10) took advantage of two free passes from SU lefty Kyle McClintock to start the second inning. Troy Foster and David McNeill walked for IUP and scored on a fielding error and a sacrifice fly to give the Crimson Hawks a 2–1 lead. Another fielding error in the outfield turned a single into a double and allowed another runner to score, putting IUP up 3–1. A Robbie Zinsmeister double gave IUP a 4–1 lead — one it did not relinquish.
The Crimson Hawks scored again in the fourth, fifth and sixth innings to put the game completely out of reach.
Douglas went 3-for-5 on the day and tried everything he could to rally the Raiders. Douglas reached on a bunt-single up the third base line in the bottom of the seventh, stole second, and came in to score on Tyler Shover’s single up the middle.
SU struggled to bring base runners home, stranding nine.
Of the 11 runs SU pitching gave up, four were unearned. McClintock went four innings for the Raiders, giving up six runs on five hits. Raider pitcher Rich Michaud gave up four more on eight hits in three innings of relief.
Senior Matt Szukics starred for IUP. The righty scattered six hits over five innings, only giving up two runs. He commanded the inside edges of the strike zone, striking out four Raiders, three of them looking.
SU plays Millersville University this weekend. The Raiders head out to MU on Friday for a 1 p.m. matchup and come back home for a doubleheader on Saturday.
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