SHIPPENSBURG, Pa. - The Bloomsburg University baseball team scored four runs in the top of the sixth inning of game one to erase a two-run deficit and then got a brilliant pitching performance from junior Chad Cooperman (Allentown, Pa./Salisbury) in game two as the Huskies posted a huge doubleheader sweep at Shippensburg University on Sunday afternoon to record their second straight series victory. Bloomsburg took game one, 5-3, and then recorded a 2-0 victory in game two as it improved to 17-8 overall and 7-5 in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Eastern Division. The Raiders dropped to 12-17 overall and 4-8 in the division.

Trailing 3-1 with only one hit through the first five innings in game one, the Huskies exploded for four runs in the top of the sixth to take a 5-3 advantage. Shippensburg's Noah Inch had Bloomsburg hitters off-balance as he allowed only three baserunners through the first five innings - a one-out double by sophomore Kyle OFier (Pittston Township, Pa./Pittston Area) in the first and back-to-back walks to freshman Tyler Wiik (Fogelsville, Pa./Northwestern Lehigh) and junior Nate Krizan (Montoursville, Pa./Home School) in the fifth - before struggling with his command in the sixth.

Sophomore Jake Reed (Quakertown, Pa./Quakertown) drew a leadoff walk before OFier struck out for the first out of the inning. Sophomore Ben Newbert (Bala Cynwyd, Pa./Harriton) walked but Inch retired junior Cole Swiger (Maple Glen, Pa./Upper Dublin) on a flyout to left for the second out. However, Wiik drew his second walk of the game to load the bases and end the afternoon for Inch after 103 pitches. The Huskies put additional speed on the basepaths as redshirt sophomore Christian Ciotti (Harrisburg, Pa./Susquehanna Township) and redshirt freshman Carter Chasanov (Magnolia, Del./Polytech) pinch ran for Newbert and Wiik as Shippensburg brought Kyle Lysy in out of the bullpen to attempt to get out of the inning. Lysy gave up three straight hits to Krizan, senior Ryan Shiffer (Toms River, N.J./Toms River South), and junior Andrew Holmes (Egg Harbor Township, N.J./Egg Harbor Township) as the Huskies scored four runs to take a 5-3 advantage. Krizan's hit tied the game as he plated Reed and Ciotti. Shiffer's hit scored Chasanov to put the Huskies in front and Holmes' knock plated Krizan for an insurance run.

Junior JJ Spehrley (Pottsville, Pa./Pottsville Area) was the beneficiary of the four-run sixth and was replaced in the home half of the sixth by senior Zach Newmyer (New Cumberland, Pa./Red Land) after five solid innings on the mound. Newmyer pitched around a walk and a hit in the bottom of the sixth and then allowed three singles in the bottom of the seventh before ending the game by retiring Justin Darden on a fly ball to left with the bases loaded.

Shippensburg jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the third on an RBI groundout from Tommy Baggett. Then, in the fourth, the Raiders plated two more against Spehrley on an RBI double from Scout Knotts and a run-scoring single from Jacob Pollock. The Huskies plated their first run of the game in the top of the fifth after Wiik and Krizan drew back-to-back walks to lead off the inning with Wiik later scoring on a sacrifice fly by Holmes.

Spehrley improved to 3-1 on the season after allowing three runs on seven hits in five innings. He walked one and struck out three. Newmyer earned his team-leading fourth save of the season but did allow four hits and a walk in two scoreless innings. He struck out two and lowered his ERA on the season to 0.56 (one earned run in 16 innings).

Inch suffered the tough-luck loss as he fell to 3-3 on the season. He allowed four runs on one hit in five and two-thirds innings but walked five and struck out eight. Lysy allowed all three of Inch's runners to score in the sixth and gave up a run of his own before recording the final out of the sixth while Jared Showalter pitched a perfect seventh inning for the Raiders.

Krizan, Holmes, Shiffer, and OFier had the Bloomsburg hits in the opener with Krizan and Holmes each plating a pair of runs. Knotts went 3-for-3 to pace the Raiders who had all nine starters record at least one hit in the contest.

Game two was the Cooperman show as he pitched, arguably, the best game of the season for the Huskies. The junior righthander was in complete control the whole game as he tossed Bloomsburg's first complete-game shutout of the year. He allowed two hits - a two-out single to Anthony Vavaroutsos in the second and a one-out infield single to Colin Williamson in the seventh - to improve to 3-2 on the season. He walked two and struck out nine while tossing an even 100 pitches in the complete-game effort.

Cooperman has now thrown both of Bloomsburg's complete games this season and has the Huskies' only shutout after Sunday's performance. He lowered his season ERA to 2.45 and has allowed only 19 hits and 12 walks in 33 innings while striking out a team-high 42 batters. Opponents are hitting just .164 off of the righthander.

Bloomsburg couldn't generate much in the way of offense against Shippensburg starter Michael Hope either but did just enough to secure the sweep. Scoreless through three innings, the Huskies broke through with a single run in the fourth when Swiger led off the inning with a mammoth home run to right field to give Bloomsburg a 1-0 advantage. It was Swiger's sixth home run of the year which ties him for the team lead with OFier in that category.

Hope was pulled after six innings and gave way to Dalton Oates in the seventh. The Huskies were able to score an insurance run against the lefthanded reliever when Reed drew a leadoff walk, stole second, and then scored on a run-scoring double by Newbert.

Cooperman ran into his biggest threat in the bottom of the seventh as Knotts drew a one-out walk and then advanced to second on the infield single by Williamson. But, Cooperman induced a game-ending 6-4-3 double play off the bat of Vavaroutsos to secure the shutout.

Hope suffered the loss to fall to 4-3 on the year. He allowed a run on six hits in six innings, walked three, and struck out seven. Oates allowed a run in the seventh while Jack Jenkins finished out the inning in relief for the Raiders.

Bloomsburg totaled seven hits in game two - two apiece from Shiffer and Swiger and one each from Reed, Newbert, and Krizan.

Bloomsburg will hit the road on Tuesday, April 9, to battle St. Thomas Aquinas for the fifth time this season in a non-conference matchup. The Huskies will then square off against East Stroudsburg in a big four-game series beginning on Friday, April 12, in Bloomsburg. Then, after a day off, the teams will conclude the weekend in East Stroudsburg on Sunday, April 14.