Drew Westover (Flinton, Pa.) had three hits and a pair of RBI as Pitt-Johnstown build an 11-3 lead and held on for an 11-10 win in Wednesday's doubleheader opener at Shippensburg University. In the nightcap, Shippensburg opened-up a 4-0 lead after two innings en route to a 9-6 win to earn the split. Andy Ebersole (Martinsburg, Pa.) had two hits and four RBI for the Mountain Cats, now 12-10.
In game one, Pitt-Johnstown scored five-run fourth inning and three in the sixth in the 11-10 win.
Drew Westover's (Flinton, Pa.) double to left field drove in Zach Martin (Irwin, Pa.) to give the Mountain Cats a 1-0 lead in the first inning.
The Red-Raiders scored three in the bottom of the second to go up 3-1, but Pitt-Johnstown answered with two in the third to tie it. Justin Demek's (Cabot, Pa.) RBI single plated Nick Barbera (Harrisburg, Pa.), who led-off the inning with a hit, and Martin came around to score on A.J. Czap's throwing error in center field.
The Mountain Cats answered with five runs in the fourth. Seth Roy (Beford, Pa.) tripled to drive in Andy Rubal (Johnstown, Pa.), before Drew Shaulis' (Somerset, Pa.) infield single scored Roy to push the lead to 5-3. Pitt-Johnstown added three more in the inning on RBI doubles by Martin and Demek and an RBI single by Westover.
The Mountain Cats scored three in the sixth to make it 11-3. Barbera and Westover scored on Dan Mangini's (Lower Burrell, Pa.) two-out, bases loaded single, and Demek scored on Rubal's base hit.
Shippensburg got back into it with six runs in the bottom of the inning, highlighted by two-run homeruns off the bats of Cody Kulp and Kyle Hollingsworth. The Red-Raiders scored another one in the bottom of the seventh to set the final at 11-10.
Westover went 3-for-4 with two RBI and two runs. Demek had two hits and two RBI, and Mangini drove in two. Rubal added a pair of hits.
Matt Whiteman (North Huntingdon, Pa.) got the win and evened his record at 1-1 after tossing two innings in relief of starter Joe Novotny (Johnstown, Pa.). Whiteman gave up one hit didn't allow a run. Mike McDermott (Nanty-Glo, Pa.) pitched the final 1.1 innings to earn his fourth save of the season.
In game two, Shippensburg jumped on Pitt-Johnstown starter Alex Naggy (Greensburg, Pa.) for two runs in each of the the first two innings. Tyler Uphouse and Kevin Scholly had RBI singles in the first to put the Red Raiders up 2-0. In the second inning, Eric Herman's tiple drove Hollingsworth home and Ben Miller singled to left to score Herman.
The Mountain Cats cut the deficit in half in the third. Barbera singled and Matt Richardson (Pittsburgh, Pa.) was hit by a pitch, before Ebersole drove them home with a double to center.
In the fifth, Whiteman popped out to shortstop, but Barbera was able to score from third to get Pitt-Johnstown to within one at 4-3. However, Shippensburg added two in the bottom of the inning three in the sixth on Kris Kullman's three-run blast to extend the lead to 9-3.
Pitt-Johnsown scored three in the seventh but it wasn't enough.
Ebersole was 2-for-4 with four RBI to lead the Mountain Cats. Barbera had three hits and scored three runs, and Whiteman collected a pair of RBI.
Naggy took the loss anf fell to 0-1 after giving up four runs on five hits in two innings.
With the split, Shippensburg is now 9-18.
Pitt-Johnstown will host a four-game WVIAC series against Wheeling Jesuit (WV) University on Friday and Saturday at 1 p.m. the Point Stadium. The Mountain Cats will also host doubleheaders against Salem International (WV) Univesity on Tuesday and Alderson-Broaddus (WV) College on Wednesday at 1 p.m. at the Point Stadium.
