Wright Blanks Cal in Game One as Ship Remains Tied for First Place in PSAC West

April 13, 2007

Game One | Game Two

WASHINGTON, Pa. - Shippensburg's sophomore pitcher Matt Wright (McClure/Mid-West) continued to stymie Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Western Division competition Friday, blanking California (Pa.) for a 1-0 victory in the opening game of a key conference doubleheader at Energy Consol Field in Washington, Pa.

Cal (21-10, 7-3 PSAC West) returned the favor in the nightcap, edging Shippensburg (17-14, 7-3 PSAC West) 4-1 to stay a tie for first place atop the division.

In the opener, Wright (4-1) threw seven shutout innings and held Cal to just four hits while striking out eight and walking none. This continues a trend that started last season.

With the win over Cal, he improved to 7-1 in eight career starts against PSAC West opponents. In those eight starts, he has eight complete games and totaled 52 innings, posting an ERA of 0.87 while striking out 67 and walking just 13. In 2007 alone, Wright is 2-1 and allowed two earned runs and struck out 22 in 20 innings against the West.

Shippensburg provided all the run support that Wright would need in the third inning. Sophomore Tyler Redick (Fairfield/Walkersville (Md.)) doubled to lead off the inning and moved to third on senior Eric Perlozzo's (Cumberland, Md./Bishop Walsh) ground out.

Junior Justin Garber (Elizabethtown/Elizabethtown) put the ball in play on the right side of the infield, allowing Redick to score, giving Ship a 1-0 led.

Cal could not manage to put more than one runner on base in any inning the rest of the way, and Wright sealed the win with back-to-back strikeouts in the bottom of the seventh.
Leading the Red Raiders at the plate were Garber and Redick, who each contributed a pair of hits.

In the nightcap, it was Cal's pitching staff that rose to the occasion. Jon Squeglia limited the Red Raiders to one run and six hits through six innings, and Andrew Rafalski converted the save without trouble.

Shippensburg senior Ross Buckwalter (Ephrata/Ephrata) (4-1) suffered his first mound loss of the season after tossing six innings and allowing four runs on eight hits while striking out six and walking none.

Four of those hits came in a three-run third innings that gave the Vulcans a 3-0 lead. Ship got one back in the fourth thanks to an RBI single off the bat of sophomore Kasey Kuhns (Three Springs/Southern Huntingdon).

Shippensburg, however, failed to mount a rally in the final three innings and Cal tacked on an insurance run in the bottom of the fifth.

Shippensburg and California meet for a pair of contests on Saturday at Fairchild Field. Because of the possibility of rain, the opener has been moved up to 12 p.m.

- Red Raider Baseball -