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SHIPPENSBURG, Pa.  – Junior Tyler Hill (Lehighton/Lehighton) was able to record three consecutive outs with the tying run standing at second base to allow the Bloomsburg University baseball team to hold on for a 7-6 game two win and a doubleheader split at No. 11 Shippensburg on Tuesday afternoon after dropping a game one heartbreaker, 3-2.

Bloomsburg now stands at 13-9 on the season and 6-2 in PSAC East play while the nationally-ranked Raiders move to 18-5, 6-2. The two teams now are tied atop the Eastern Division standings along with Millersville, which split its doubleheader at Kutztown Tuesday.
 
GAME ONE – Shippensburg 3, Huskies 2
The Raiders pulled out a hard-fought game one decision with Cody Ezolt's RBI single in the bottom of the sixth being the difference.

Shippensburg led early, scoring a first inning run following a Huskies fielding error.

Bloomsburg tied the score in the next inning by doing some two-out damage. Brady West (Harleysville/North Penn) singled with two away and moved into scoring position by stealing second. He then scored on a Tim Kurucz (East Brunswick, NJ/East Brunswick) single to left for the 1-1 tie.

A fourth inning run gave the Huskies their first lead. Brad Smith (Morgantown/Twin Valley) walked to lead off and stole second following a strikeout. Brian Almand (Haddon Township, NJ/Paul VI) reached on an infield single to put runners at the corners and Smith came home to score on a squeeze play with West putting down a bunt which left the Raiders only with a play at first as Smith scored.

The lead was short-lived, however, as the Raiders strung together three straight singles to start the inning, capped on an RBI hit through the right side by Isaac Stern.

The score remained tied at 2 until the home half of the sixth when Ezolt brought home what turned out to be the winning run.

Casey Cooperman (Allentown/Parkland) (3-3) picked up the tough luck loss, working six innings of seven-hit ball while allowing only two earned runs. Cooperman struck out five and walked one.

Nick Massetti (5-0) earned the win on the hill with a complete game effort, allowing seven hits and two runs while walking three and striking out five.

Eric Frain (Philadelphia/Archbishop Ryan) tallied a pair of singles and a stolen base out of the leadoff spot to pace the Huskies offense. Pat Kregeloh went 3-for-3 for Shippensburg.
 
GAME TWO – Huskies 7, Shippensburg 6
Bloomsburg ran out to an early lead and never trailed in the nightcap, holding off multiple rally attempts by the Raiders for the win.

Hill entered the game in the sixth and after pitching a scoreless first inning of work, ran into a jam in the seventh. The Raiders came into their last at-bat down 7-5, but quickly put the pressure on in the last of the seventh as Mike Marcinko worked a walk to lead off the inning and set the table for the middle of the order. Jimmy Spanos followed with a double to put the tying run into scoring position with no outs. Kregeloh grounded out to third, scoring Marcinko while Spanos held at second. Hill then coaxed a groundout to short and a foul out to first base with Joey Casselberry (Eagleville/Methacton) squeezing a foul fly off the bat of Ezolt for the final out.

The Huskies led 4-0 after the first two innings. Bloomsburg scored twice in the first on a sacrifice fly by Casselberry and a Raiders error. Two more runs crossed the plate in the second on a groundout and a passed ball for the early edge.

Shippensburg began chipping away in the third, scoring twice to cut the lead in half. Bloomsburg responded with a run on West's sac fly for a 5-2 lead, but Shippensburg closed within a run in the fourth with two more runs.

From there the two teams exchanged offense. The Huskies picked up a run on Smith's RBI single to right center, scoring Nick Mazza (Carbondale/Carbondale) who doubled to lead off the inning. The Raiders cut to within a run once more on a run-scoring single from Isaac Stern and put the tying run at second, but reliever Cody Heane (McClure/Indian Valley) picked up a strikeout to retire the side before any more damage was done.

In the sixth, the Huskies plated what turned out to be the winning run. Tim Ravel (Sinking Spring/Wilson) singled and advanced to second on a failed pickoff attempt. He moved to third with a stolen base and then came home on a passed ball.

That final run would be enough as Hill recorded his first save of the season with two innings of one-run ball while striking out three. Matt Jaskolka (Warren/Warren Area) moved to 4-1 on the year, starting and working four innings while allowing four runs with two walks and two strikeouts. Heane struck out two in his inning of relief, surrendering a run on two hits.

Mazza powered the offense from the two-hole in the lineup, driving three hits while scoring twice and stealing a base. Ravel and Corey Baiada (Harleysville/LaSalle) each scored twice.

Thomas Swartz (2-2) was tagged with the loss for the Raiders, allowing four runs, two earned, in two innings.

Bloomsburg is slated to travel to West Chester to makeup a twice-postponed doubleheader vs. the Golden Rams Wednesday at 1 p.m.