MANSFIELD, Pa. - The Mansfield Mountaineer baseball team fell twice to Shippensburg University in two hard-fought battles, 2-0, 4-3, in Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Eastern Division play on Friday afternoon, May 5.
With the sweep, the Mounties fall to 13-32 overall and 4-20 in the PSAC East while Shippensburg improved to 27-22 and 12-12 in conference.
The Mountaineers received quality starting pitching in both contest, as
Austin Lewis threw a complete game in the opener, allowing just two runs.
Eric Gustofson got the ball in game two and scattered four runs over five innings of work.
Jacob Houtz blasted his team-high seventh home run of the season to highlight the offense.
GAME ONE: Raiders 2, Mounties 0
Lewis dealt through the first three innings, allowing just three hits and striking out four.
Shippensburg opened the scoring in the top of the fourth with a two-out RBI single to take a 1-0 lead. Lewis buckled down to limit the damage to just one run, stranding runners on first and second.
Both starters continued to dominate on the mound and neither team found the scoreboard until the seventh, when Shippensburg plated a solo run to extend their lead to 2-0.
The Mounties went down in order in their last at-bats and Shippensburg sealed the victory.
Dispite his efforts, Lewis lands the loss bringing his record to 4-6 on the year. Shippensburg starter Eric Bohenek matched Lewis, also throwing seven innings, allowing four hits, zero runs, and one strike out, improving his record to 7-3.
Zachary Shertzer led the Mountaineer offense going 2-for-2 with a walk.
GAME TWO: Raiders 4, Mounties 3
Fresh off a 2-0 win in game one of the doubleheader, Shippensburg looked to carry the momentum into game two, with their playoff hopes on the line.
Gustofson worked in and out of trouble to keep the Raiders off the scoreboard through two innings, but Shippensburg finally broke through in the top of the third with three runs.
Shipp added a run in the fourth, but Houtz answered with a solo home run to lead off the inning, cutting the deficit to 4-1.
Brittain Shander belted a leadoff double in the bottom of the fifth to drive the Shipp starter out of the game, which led to a pair of Mountaineer runs off RBIs from
Marcus Nales and
Josh Farina.
Scott Poulson,
Lorenzo Febbo, and
Josh Colon excelled out of the Mountaineer bullpen to keep the Raiders off the scoreboard the remainder of the game, but the offense couldn't muster any runs and the Raiders held on for the victory.
Gustofson is credited with the loss, finishing his season with a record of 1-7. Ethan Miller was credited with the win for Shippensburg ending his regular season with a 1-2 record.
Houtz homered and Nales and Farina drove in runs to lead the offense.
NEXT UP
Friday's doubleheader concludes the 2023 season.
