Baseball | 4/16/2015 9:27:00 AM

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1995 WORLD SERIES TEAM TO BE HONORED
Bloomsburg University will honor the 20th anniversary of the 1995 Huskies team that won the regional championship and advanced to the Division II College World Series, welcoming back players from that team for a ceremony to be held between games of Saturday's doubleheader at Danny Litwhiler Field. For more information on that team, click here.

ABOUT SHIPPENSBURG
The Raiders improved their standing in the PSAC East with a four-game split with nationally ranked Millersville last week, scoring wins of 10-8 and 4-1 and falling 4-3 and 4-0 in the first game of each doubleheader. At 12-8 in the PSAC East entering this weekend's four-game series, like Bloomsburg, the Raiders control their own destiny in the playoff race.

Shippensburg ranks seventh in the PSAC in team batting average at .313 on the year and is fourth in home runs with 38 this spring. On the mound, the Raiders rank ninth in the conference with a team ERA of 6.54, just ahead of Bloomsburg's 6.56.

Junior shortstop Mike Marcinko is 15th in the PSAC this season with a .409 batting average as one of a whopping 17 players hitting .400 or better so far. Sophomore catcher Jake Kennedy provides huge pop in the middle of the lineup, blasting 15 home runs on the year - only Nick Sell of Seton Hill (20) and Ryan Uhl of IUP (19) have hit more in the league this spring. Kennedy also leads the team with 40 RBIs.

Juniors Marcus Shippey (3-4, 4.66 ERA, 59 strikeouts in 46.1 innings) and Rich Michaud (4-3, 5.09) along with sophomore Mark Curtis (3-5, 5.80) have been the primary members of the starting rotation.

LAST YEAR'S SERIES
The Huskies took three of four games in last year's series, losing game one on the road, 3-2, before rallying for a 7-6 game two win when the Raiders were ranked No. 11 in the nation. Bloomsburg then swept the doubleheader with Shippensburg at home by scores of 5-2 and 4-1.

Brian Almand (Haddon Township, NJ/Paul VI) went 4-for-8 in the series while Eric Frain (Philadelphia/Archbishop Ryan) hit 6-for-15 (.400) with three RBIs. Brady West (Harleysville/North Penn) also went 4-for-10 with two RBIs and two stolen bases. On the mound, both Sean McCloskey (Warminster/Archbishop Wood) and Ryuta Amaike (Whitehall/Whitehall) were excellent - McCloskey tossed a complete game and did not allow an earned run to pick up a win with four strikeouts while Amaike worked 6.2 innings in his start and also did not surrender an earned run with five punchouts to pick up a victory.

HUSKIES CONTROL PLAYOFF DESTINY
It has been an up-and-down spring for the Huskies - they opened conference play at 5-0 for the first time since the 1995 World Series team, but then dropped 10 straight games to fall to 5-10 in the PSAC East. The Huskies have rebounded the past week, splitting a four-game set with Kutztown and sweeping a doubleheader with Mansfield to get right back in the thick of the playoff race. Bloomsburg enters the weekend just a game out of a playoff spot - the top four teams from the East will qualify and East Stroudsburg currently holds the No. 4 spot with a 10-10 record. Shippensburg is third in the standings at 12-8. The Huskies have all four games remaining with both teams ahead of them in the standings, Shippensburg and East Stroudsburg.

CHASING HISTORY
Huskies pitchers took a no-hit bid into the seventh inning of game one at Kutztown on Tuesday before the Golden Bears broke it up with a bunt single. Prior to that point, Brandon Birkhead (Doylestown/Central Bucks East) and Alex Carpenter (South Williamsport/South Williamsport) had not allowed a hit through the first six innings. Huskies pitchers have taken no-hit bids into the sixth (Ryuta Amaike (Whitehall/Whitehall) vs. West Chester) and seventh (Birkhead, Carpenter at Kutztown) innings this season.

WHO'S HOT
The Huskies are hitting .340 as a team over the past three sets of doubleheaders vs. Kutztown and Mansfield - Tyler Benson (Montville, N.J./Montville Township) (.450) and Damin Muth (Breinigsville/Parkland) (.429) have played in every game and are each hitting over .400. Ryan Kirman (Little Silver, N.J./Red Bank Regional) has caught fire as well, batting .526 (10-for-19) over the past five games heading into the Shippensburg series.

BY THE NUMBERS
5 - Bloomsburg blasted five home runs in its last home doubleheader vs. Mansfield on Monday. All five players hit their first homers of the year (Tim Ravel (Sinking Spring/Wilson), Preston Bare (Palmyra/Palmyra), Ryan Kirman (Little Silver, N.J./Red Bank Regional), Cy Treaster (Lewistown/Mifflin County) and Austin Edgette (Exton/Downingtown East)).

16 - Damin Muth (Breinigsville/Parkland) leads the Huskies with 16 RBIs on the season entering Friday's games.

.419 - Eric Frain (Philadelphia/Archbishop Ryan) is hitting .419 this season with runners on base, the best mark on the team.

44 - With 44 career stolen bases, Tim Ravel (Sinking Spring/Wilson) ranks seventh all-time in Huskies history, just one away from sixth (Mike Reinking, 1997-2000).