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BLOOMSBURG, Pa. - Head coach Mike Collins became the second coach in program history to record 300 career victories and the Bloomsburg University baseball team secured a spot in the upcoming Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) tournament with a doubleheader sweep of visiting Lock Haven University on Monday afternoon at Danny Litwhiler Field. The Huskies took game one by a 7-2 final and then completed the sweep with an 11-6 win in game two to improve to 30-10 overall and 18-6 in the PSAC Eastern Division. The Bald Eagles dropped to 18-22-1 overall and 11-13 in the division.

The Huskies will advance to the conference tournament, which begins on Wednesday, May 8, in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, for the second consecutive season which marks the first time in program history that the program has reached the playoffs in back-to-back seasons. It is just the eighth time in school history that the Huskies will make an appearance in the conference tournament. Entering the final weekend of the regular season, Bloomsburg sits two games behind first-place Millersville and three games ahead of East Stroudsburg and West Chester which are tied for third.

Collins, meanwhile, joins Matt  Haney as the two coaches to record at least 300 wins guiding the Huskies' program. Haney is the all-time career wins leader as he went 314-331-3 from 1991-05 and Collins, who took over in 2006, has led Bloomsburg to a 300-332-1 record during his tenure.

In the opener, the Huskies jumped on Lock Haven starter Ross Mintzer for a pair of unearned runs in the bottom of the first inning to take a 2-0 advantage. Senior Ryan Shiffer (Toms River, N.J./Toms River South), the reigning PSAC East Athlete of the Week, drove home the first run with a seeing-eye single through the right side of the infield to plate junior Nate Krizan (Montoursville, Pa./Home School). With the hit, Shiffer extended his hitting streak to 15 consecutive games. Redshirt freshman Carter Chasanov (Magnolia, Del./Polytech) followed with an RBI groundout to score sophomore Ben Newbert (Bala Cynwyd, Pa./Harriton) for the second run of the inning.

Bloomsburg added a run in the bottom of the second on a run-scoring single from Krizan that plated sophomore Kyle OFier (Pittston Township, Pa./Pittston Area) who had led off the inning with a double off the right field fence.

The visitors made things interesting in the top of the fourth as Max Joseph launched a two-run home run off of junior righthander JJ Spehrley (Pottsville, Pa./Pottsville Area) to cut the Huskies' lead to 3-2. But, Bloomsburg answered with two runs in the home half to regain its three-run lead at 5-2. Freshman Tyler Wiik (Fogelsville, Pa./Northwestern Lehigh) led off the inning with a single, advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt from sophomore Jake Reed (Quakertown, Pa./Quakertown), and then scored when junior Andrew Holmes (Egg Harbor Township, N.J./Egg Harbor Township) lifted a deep fly ball to left field that was dropped by the Bald Eagles' left fielder. Krizan then singled off of the glove of Mintzer with Holmes scoring on a throwing error for the second run of the frame.

Bloomsburg extended the lead with single runs in the fifth and sixth innings to take a 7-2 lead. In the fifth, Wiik doubled and then was lifted for junior pinch runner Gianni Sinatore (Whitehall, Pa./Whitehall). Sinatore advanced to third on a wild pitch and then scored when the Huskies manufactured a run on a double steal with two outs. Reed took off for second and got in a rundown long enough for Sinatore to score the Huskies' sixth run of the game. Shiffer then stayed hot in the bottom of the sixth when he launched his fifth home run of the season over the left field fence to complete the scoring.

Spehrley improved to 5-2 on the season after allowing two runs on four hits while striking out four in five innings of work. Senior Trey Hinkle (Macungie, Pa./Emmaus) pitched around a hit and a walk in the sixth for a scoreless inning and senior Zach Newmyer (New Cumberland, Pa./Red Land) tossed a perfect seventh with a pair of strikeouts to secure the game one victory.

Mintzer suffered the loss for Lock Haven despite only allowing one earned run. He dropped to 4-4 on the year after giving up five runs (one earned) on seven hits in five innings.

Bloomsburg had ten hits in the opener with Shiffer going 3-for-3 with a home run and a pair of RBI. Krizan also had three hits for the Huskies while Wiik went 2-for-2 with a run scored.

Game two was never in doubt as the Huskies scored five runs in each of the first two innings to take a 10-0 advantage giving junior righthander Chad Cooperman (Allentown, Pa./Salisbury) plenty of run support early.

The Huskies had only two hits in the first inning despite scoring five runs against Avery Eddy. Sophomore Jared Burcin (Bethlehem, Pa./Liberty) drove home the first run of the inning with an RBI single and Chasanov followed with a sacrifice fly to push the lead to 2-0. OFier then belted a three-run opposite-field home run - his team-leading ninth round-tripper of the season - to give the Huskies a 5-0 advantage. Eddy ran into trouble by hitting three batters and walking another which led to Bloomsburg's big inning.

In the bottom of the second, the Huskies scored five more runs on three hits, three walks, an error, and a pair of wild pitches. Newbert drove home the first run of the inning by drawing a four-pitch walk with the bases loaded to extend the lead to 6-0. Burcin followed with an RBI single and then Chasanov bounced into a run-scoring fielder's choice with Newbert also scoring after the throw to first for the double-play attempt bounced away. The final run came when Chasanov crossed the dish on a wild pitch.

But, Lock Haven got all five runs back in the top of the third after Cooperman lost a little of his sharpness after sitting during the Huskies' big inning the previous half. The big blows for the Bald Eagles came on back-to-back hitters as Isaac Porter laced a two-run double and then Pedro Peguero launched a two-run home run to left to cut the Bloomsburg lead to 10-5.

The Bald Eagles tried to cut into the lead further in the top of the fourth but Liam McArthur, who doubled with two outs, was nailed at the plate on a perfect throw from right fielder Cole Swiger (Maple Glen, Pa./Upper Dublin) to end the inning.

Bloomsburg pushed the lead to 11-5 in the bottom of the fifth when Holmes jumped all over the first pitch from reliever Brandon Lingenfelter and launched a solo home run to center to lead off the frame. It was Holmes' eighth round-tripper of the season. Lock Haven plated a run in the top of the sixth off of freshman Anthony Donato (Madison Township, Pa./North Pocono) but could get no closer.

Cooperman improved to 6-3 on the season despite allowing five runs on seven hits in five hits. He walked two and struck out seven. All five runs, and five of the seven hits he allowed, came in the third. Donato pitched the sixth and allowed a run on a pair of hits and senior Jeremy Zezza (Exeter, Pa./Wyoming Area) got around a leadoff single to retire the final three batters he faced on strikes for a scoreless seventh.

Eddy dropped to 3-3 on the year after allowing nine runs on four hits, three walks, and three hit batters.

Burcin had three of Bloomsburg's nine hits as he went 3-for-4 with a pair of runs batted in. Holmes went 2-for-2 with three runs scored while Shiffer extended his hitting streak to 16 straight games with a single in the second inning.

The Huskies will head to Le Moyne College for a single nine-inning game on Tuesday, April 30, beginning at 3:30 p.m. before wrapping up the regular season on Friday and Saturday, May 3 and 4, against West Chester University. The teams will open the four-game series in West Chester on Friday before concluding on Saturday at Danny Litwhiler Field. The home doubleheader will also serve as Senior Day for the Huskies.