Shippensburg Defeats No. 1 Florida Southern, Wins Fifth Straight

LAKELAND, Fla. - Behind nine solid innings on the mound from junior pitcher Nick Erdman (Leola, Pa./Conestoga Valley), the Shippensburg University baseball team defeated No. 1 ranked Florida Southern College, 3-2, to give the Mocs their first defeat of the season. Meanwhile, the Red Raiders posted their fifth-straight victory this year.
 
Shippensburg (8-2) entered the game ranked No. 15 in the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) Division II Top 25, while Florida Southern (16-1) is ranked No. 1.
 
Erdman went the distance, giving up two runs on seven hits for his second victory of the season. Daniel Arbritton was the losing pitcher for the Mocs.
 
With the game tied 1-1 through six innings, Shippensburg senior Ryan Miscik (Mt. Pleasant/Mt. Pleasant) hit an RBI-single to give the Red Raiders the lead. He later scored what would be the game-winning run later in the inning.
 
After junior Brad Berner (Media, Pa./Penncrest) was hit to reach base and moved into scoring position on a ground out, Miscik's single sent him across the plate. Subsequent singles from senior Chad Stecker (Saylorsburg, Pa./Pleasant Valley) and junior Eric Perlozzo (Cumberland, Md./Bishop Walsh) loaded the bases. Misick scored when junior Tyler Wise (Bedford, Pa./Bedford) grounded out, giving the Red Raiders a 3-1 lead.
 
Florida Southern rallied in the bottom of the ninth. Two wild pitches allowed Jeff Howell to reach base, and he scored on an RBI-single from Paul Ryan to cut Shippensburg's lead to one before Erdman got Geoff Strickland to fly out to right field to end the game.
 
Both teams scored in the first inning. Shippensburg got on the board when Stecker led off the game with a single, and after a stolen base, was driven in by Perlozzo.
 
Florda Southern responded in the bottom of the inning with a sacrifice fly from Matt Mercurio to send home Strickland, tying the game at 1-1.
 
Stecker and Perlozzo each went 2-for-5 while sophomore Ryan Bucher (Lebanon, Pa./Cedar Crest) was 2-for-3.
 
Shippensburg takes on Eckerd at 2:00 p.m. on Saturday afternoon. The Red Raiders defeated the Tritons 6-3 in their first meeting earlier this week.

- Red Raider Baseball -