Red Raider Baseball Nipped Twice by Mount Olive
Feb. 24, 2007
Game One | Game Two
MOUNT OLIVE, N.C. - One-run games continue
to spell trouble for the Shippensburg University baseball team, which dropped
a pair of one-run decisions at Mount Olive Saturday afternoon, moving their
season mark to 3-6. Shippensburg is now 1-4 in games decided by one run.
Shippensburg lost the
first game of a double header Saturday on wild pitch in the bottom of the
ninth
inning.
Mount Olive College came away with the
win when a wild pitch brought home Jackson Massey to end the game.
Sophomore Matt Wright (McClure/Mid-West) started the game for Shippensburg
and pitched six solid innings, giving up just two runs on six hits, six walks
and striking
out six. He got off on the right foot in the game when he caught shortstop
David Cooper looking, but walked back-to-back batters. He would get out of
the inning without surrendering a hit or run, however.
The Shippensburg offense got to work early when junior Justin
Garber (Elizabethtown/Elizabethtown) and sophomore Kyle Rhoades (Brodheadsville/Pleasant
Valley) knocked consecutive singles off starter Tom
Layne. After striking out sophomore Tyler Redick (Fairfield/Walkersville
(Md.)), senior Jamie
Mengle (Mechanicsburg/Cumberland Valley) knocked in Garber when he grounded
out to the third baseman. Senior Scott Goss (Johnstown/Westmont Hilltop),
was the
next batter up and slammed the first pitch
of his at-bat over the outfield wall for a two-run shot that put the Red
Raiders up with an early three-run lead.
Sophomore Kasey Kuhns's (Three Springs/Southern Huntingdon) first career
homer added to the lead.
The home team broke the shutout open in the second when the Trojans’ first
baseman Erik Lovett hit a homer of his own to lead-off the inning.
Josh Carter would also score in the inning to put the score at 3-2 with Shippensburg
on top.
However,
Redick hit a solo round-tripper in the third inning to spread the gap
to 4-2.
The game was quiet until the bottom of the seventh inning. Wright left the
game after the sixth and sophomore Andrew Burke (Fayetteville/Chambersburg) came in to start the seventh. He struck out the first batter he faced and
walked the second. Dustin
Richardson
flied out to right field for the second out of the frame. Lovett then hit
his second four-bagger of the game and closed the gap to 6-4.
Carter the hit a double off of Burke, and pinch-hitter Josh Harrison knocked
him in with a single. This ended Burke’s appearance for the day. Junior Kyle Warner (Berrysburg/Upper Dauphin) came into the game and gave up a base
hit to Anthony Williams, but
cleaned up the mess when he forced Cooper to fly out to right field.
In the home
half of the final inning, Warner struck out the first batter he faced in
the frame, but walked Carter after taking the count to 3-2. Carter stole
second base, and was knocked home on a Jason Sherrer single. Sherrer advanced
to second on the failed throw to home plate.
Brian Boylan entered the game with score tied at six runs apiece. Sherrer
got to third base on a pass ball, and then scored on a wild pitch outside
and in the dirt to end the game.
In the second game of the doubleheader, the Red Raiders were slated to play
a shortened seven-inning game, but more time was needed to resolve the contest
between the two teams. When all was said and done, Ship lost in an 11-inning
game, 5-4.
Just as the previous game, the Red Raiders got on the board early putting
up two runs on the scoreboard in the first inning. They then duplicated their
run total in the second inning.
With runners at first and second with one out in the second, sophomore
Rhoades blasted a double into the left-center field gap to score one run.
Then with the runner moved to third base, next batter Redick
hit a sacrifice fly to increase the Red Raider lead to 4-0.
But behind solid defensive play from their infieldk, Mount Olive College
fought back in the latter part of the game.
In the fourth inning, the Trojans finally got on the board when junior Scott
Houin scored from second base off of a junior Erik Lovett single.
The scoring continued in the fifth inning when the Trojans engaged in a single
parade. After singles by seniors Stephen Nordan and Dustin Richardson, ninth
batter junior Anthony Williams legged out a bunt single to load the bases.
The next batter cut the lead to 4-2 when the Red Raiders allowed
a run for a double play.
In the following inning, a double by Houin moved
two runners in scoring position. Then a single by Lovett scored one run,
and
Houin later scored to tie the game.
Both teams failed to convert the winning run over the next 4 1⁄2 innings
until the bottom of the 11th when Lovett blasted a home run over
the right-center scoreboard.
Despite the disappointing outcome for the Red Raiders, senior Ross
Buckwalter (Ephrata/Ephrata) turned in another solid outing.
In eight innings pitched, he surrendered four runs, three earned, on eight
hits. He also added
four
strikeouts
and
two
walks to his stats.
The Red Raiders will be back in action Sunday February 25 when they take
on Mount Olive College in a double header. The first game is set for 1 p.m.
SATURDAY'S LINE SCORES
Game One
Mount Olive 7, Shippensburg 6 (Feb 24, 2007 at Mount Olive, N.C.) (Game
1)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Shippensburg…..... 311 010 000 - 6 10 1 (3-5)
Mount Olive......... 020 000 302 - 7 11 1 (10-5)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
One out, none on when game ended
Pitchers: Shippensburg – Matt Wright; Andrew Burke (7); Kyle Warner
(7); Brian Boylan (9). Mount Olive – Tom Layne; Todd Jeffreys (7).
Win-Jeffreys(2-0) Loss-Warner(0-1)
Hitters-Shippensburg: Scott Goss (2-5, home run 2 rbi); Kasey Kuhns (2-4,
home run); Tyler Redick (2-5, home run). Mount Olive: Erik Lovett (2-4, 2
home runs, 3 rbiJosh Harrison (2-2, 2 rbi).
HR Ship – Scott Goss, Kasey Kuhns, Tyler Redick
HR MOC – Erik Lovett 2 (7).
Game Two
Mount Olive 5, Shippensburg 4 (11 innings) (Feb 21, 2007 at Mount Olive,
N.C.) (Game 2)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Shippensburg….....220 000 000 00 - 4 9 1 (3-6)
Mount Olive...........000 112 000 01 - 5 9 1 (11-5)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
None out, none on when game ended
Pitchers: Shippensburg – Ross Buckwalter; Jason Kelly(9). Mount Olive – Weston
Curles; Anthony Hernandez(3); Patrick Ball(7).
Win-Ball(1-0) Loss-Kelly(0-1)
Hitters-Shippensburg: Tyler Redick (2-3, double, rbi); Justin Garber (2-5).
Mount Olive: Erik Lovett (3-5, home run, 4 rbi); Scott Houin (2-5, double,
2 runs); Anthony Williams (2-3).
HR MOC – Erik Lovett (8).
- Red Raider Baseball -
