Baseball drops three of four in tough series

In a crucial series against first-place Millersville, Shippensburg University’s baseball team lost three of four games.

The series began with 2-1 and 4-3 losses on Friday before SU won 12-10 and lost 6-2 on Saturday. The Raiders are 17-10 on the season, 4-4 in conference play.

Friday’s series opener was a pitcher’s duel, with each team picking up two hits. SU did not have a baserunner until the fifth inning and did not have a hit until senior Gio Calamia had a leadoff single in the final inning. Freshman Mason Morris brought him home with a sacrifice fly, but that was all the offense could muster in a 2-1 loss.

Senior Jaxon Dalena pitched six strong innings, allowing two earned runs on two hits and two walks while striking out six. The loss puts him at 4-2 on the season.

Game two saw the Raiders take the lead early, with an RBI single from junior Mike Heckman and a two-run knock from graduate Carter Arbuthnot putting SU ahead 3-0 in the fourth.

Millersville did some damage against the Shippensburg bullpen though, scoring two runs in each of the final two innings for a walk-off 4-3 win and a doubleheader sweep.

Redshirt Senior Cam Goble threw five scoreless innings, allowing two hits and two walks. He struck out two and took a no-decision. Junior Jack Robinson took the loss after giving up two runs in 0.1 innings.

The series continued Saturday with Millersville striking first in a wild game. The Marauders led 6-1 in the fourth inning, but SU began cutting into the deficit with a two-run double from freshman Evan Shoffler and an RBI single from senior Gio Calamia.

SU’s bats came alive in the fifth, scoring eight runs in the inning. Shoffler brought home the first run on a sacrifice fly, the first of six Raiders to earn an RBI in the frame. Shippensburg sent 14 hitters to the plate in the innings, earning five hits and five walks.

Millersville struck back with four more runs, but junior Brendan Anderson entered the game and earned the save after leaving the bases loaded in the seventh.

Junior J.T. Weaver went three innings in his start, giving up four runs (one earned) on five hits. SU head coach Matt Jones spoke on Weaver’s effort postgame. “He was really sick, so we didn’t know if he was going to be able to throw,” he said. “He couldn’t have thrown one more pitch. That was a gutty effort by him.”

The series finale saw the Raiders hit back-to-back home runs in the first inning, with Calamia and junior AJ Wenrich each hitting solo shots. SU failed to score again, and Millersville prevailed 6-2.

Sophomore Bryce Amos went five innings in his start, giving up five earned runs on six hits and two walks. Freshman Jacob Dennis pitched two innings of one-run ball in relief.

Jones expressed frustration with the series result. “We’re disappointed,” he said. “We felt like we should have at least split, if not won the series… we let an opportunity get away.”

Another strong opponent awaits the Raiders next weekend, a four-game series against West Chester. The action begins with a home doubleheader at 1 p.m. on Friday at Fairchild Field before two games at West Chester starting at 1 p.m. on Saturday.