The top three hitters in the Shippensburg batting order combined for eight hits as the Raiders advanced to the championship round of the NCAA Division II North Atlantic Regional with a 10-5 win against West Chester.
Kyle Rhoades and Tyler Redick recorded three hits each and Justin Garber added a pair of doubles for a Raiders attack that reached double figures in scoring for a third straight NCAA Tournament contest.
The trio pounced on West Chester starter David Slusser for three straight singles to start the game. Redick’s hit plated Garber with the contest’s first run. Rhoades later scored on a Rick Shumway groundout.
Three straight walks got the second inning off to a good start for Shippensburg (37-23) as Kasey Kuhns, Sean Killian and Eric Dezell each walked.
A misplayed Garber single to left emptied the bases as the Raiders pushed the lead to 5-0.
Dezell’s run-scoring single in the third brought Ashton Taughinbaugh around for a 6-0 Shippensburg advantage.
West Chester (43-15) cut into the deficit with a pair of runs in their half of the third.
Matt Cotellese continued his hot hitting with a two-run double that scored Kevin McGrath and Brandon Wolfe.
Frank Nunan helped West Chester add another in the fifth as the Golden Rams pulled within 6-3. He led off the inning with a single, stole second and eventually scored on a Wolfe hit.
Both teams put two runs on the board in the seventh. The Raiders took advantage of a key error as they plated two unearned runs. Nick Spisak and Cotellese produced run-scoring singles for West Chester as the Rams drew within 8-5, but Shippensburg starter Jason Kelly squelched the rally. West Chester left a pair of runners on when Kelly got Bob Stumpo to strike out and Nunan grounded into a fielder’s choice to end the inning.
Shippensburg put up a pair of insurance runs in the ninth when Kuhns notched a two-run single for the final margin.
Kyle Warner completed his scoreless two-inning stint on the mound for the Raiders in the bottom of the ninth to record his third save.
Kelly (7-2) scattered 10 hits and walked none in seven innings to pick up the win. He fanned six West Chester batters.
Slusser (7-4), the first of four West Chester pitchers, was tagged with the loss with a final ledger of four hits and five earned runs allowed in 11⁄3 innings.
Cotellese and Wolfe led the Golden Rams offense with three hits each.
TheRed Raiders will play for the championship today at noon.
Shippensburg, the tournament’s lone unbeaten, needs only one victory today to advance to the NCAA Division II baseball championships later this month in suburban St. Louis.
College
Shippensburg continues its domination
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MAC honors Roberts
Forest Hills graduate and former Delweld MVP George Roberts was named Mid-American Conference (MAC) Player of the Year in baseball on Tuesday.
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Sentence given, but Rutgers webcam saga not over
The legal saga is far from over for a former Rutgers University student sentenced to 30 days jail for using a webcam to spy on his roommate kissing another man. The cultural fallout could continue, too.
Dharun Ravi, 20, was sentenced Monday, two months after a jury convicted him of 15 criminal counts, including invasion of privacy and bias intimidation and seven counts dealing with covering up a crime.
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Paterno's family to get $13.4 million pension
Joe Paterno earned a state pension of $13.4 million for his 61-year coaching career at Penn State.
Paterno's family said Tuesday through a spokesman that Paterno's widow, Sue, would receive an initial payment of $10.1 million by the end of May, with the rest to be paid out over the next two years.
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O’Brien keeps message fresh in selling Penn State
After three weeks of crisscrossing the Northeast to rally and re-assure the Nittany Lions faithful that all will be well in Happy Valley, Bill O’Brien still had fresh material when the Penn State coaching caravan reached its 18th and final stop.
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[VIDEO] Panthers eager to renew PSU rivalry
It didn’t take Steve Pederson long to realize how important a renewal of the Pitt-Penn State football rivalry is to local fans.
Even the invocation at the Johnstown Panther Club’s fifth annual spring event at Sunnehanna Country Club on Thursday night included a request for the teams to meet on the field again. -
Penn State coach stops in Altoona
Bill O’Brien has quickly put to rest any notion that he plans to stick around as long as the last Penn State football coach.
Don’t expect his tenure in Happy Valley to last 46 years. -
Shepherd takes WVIAC championship
Shepherd recorded a 10-5 victory over Alderson-Broaddus in the WVIAC baseball championship Sunday afternoon at Point Stadium, earning a spot in the NCAA tournament with the league’s automatic bid.
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Mount falls in title game
Mount Aloysius’ Cinderella run through the AMCC playoffs came to an end Saturday, as the No. 6 seed Mounties fell to top-seeded La Roche 14-4 in the AMCC Championship game.
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Shepherd advances to title game
Shepherd advanced to the WVIAC Championship by defeating West Virginia State on Saturday at Point Stadium.
The conference title game will be played at 1 p.m. today at the Point. -
Two UPJ players earn WVIAC first-team honors
Pitt-Johnstown sophomore catcher Kyle Morrow and sophomore second baseman Jake Warner were named first-team All-WVIAC baseball, while senior outfielder Drew Westover and sopohomore right-hander Derek Younker each earned a spot on the second-team.
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