KUTZTOWN, Pa. – The Kutztown University baseball team suffered two home defeats at the hands of the Shippensburg University Raiders on Friday afternoon, falling by scores of 5-2 in extra innings and 6-1, in its final regular season series of 2018 in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC).
 
The opportunities were there for KU to take game one, but, for the first time this season, the Maroon and Gold couldn't convert on them. Kutztown had runners in scoring position with less than two outs in both the seventh and eighth innings of game one, however it was unable to bring across the pivotal game-winning run in each frame. 
 
In the top of the ninth, the Raiders finally broke a six-inning scoring drought by both sides, plating three runs in the inning to take a 5-2 lead. The Golden Bears threatened in the bottom-half, getting two men on with just one out, but SU's Michael Hope slammed the door shut in relief of starter Zack Sims, getting the final two outs to nail down the win.
 
With the momentum decidedly in Shippensburg's favor after its road victory in the opener, the Raiders pounded out ten hits and six runs in the second game, cruising to a 6-1 win. 
 
Ryan Cox (Aliquippa, Pa./Hopewell (St. Bonaventure)) had a team-high three hits on the day and Bo Rottet (Tamaqua, Pa./Tamaqua) added two hits, both of which came in the first game. Brady Carras (Coatesville, Pa./Coatesville Area) picked up the lone RBI of the day for KU, which finished with a combined three runs and 10 hits in 16.0 innings of play. 
 
In dropping both games today, KU now must win both of its games tomorrow against the Raiders on the road to keep its PSAC Tournament hopes alive. 
 
Game One
Sims and Michael Hunter (Mertztown, Pa./Brandywine Heights (Marist)) both pitched effectively over their 8.1 and 7.1 innings, respectively, with the only runs surrendered by both coming in the second inning. 
 
The Raiders got on the board first as Hunter made a mistake to Shippensburg left fielder Scout Knotts, ahead 0-2 in the count. Knotts took a hanging pitch from Hunter and launched it over the left field fence with a runner on base, to put the Raiders ahead 2-0.
 
Kutztown then tied it in the bottom of the second as Dariel Richardson (Reading, Pa./Reading) got a two-out rally started with a single through the left side. Jeff Charles (Whitehall, Pa./Whitehall (Lehigh Carbon C.C.)) then flied a ball into the left-center field gap that looked as if it would be caught and Sims would escape unscathed.
 
However, a two-base error was made on the fly ball by SU's center-fielder, allowing Richardson to score for the Golden Bears' first run. Charles then advanced to third on a wild pitch and was singled home by Carras, who picked up KU's lone RBI in the game with an infield single to shortstop.
 
Tied 2-2 after two, both pitchers settled in as neither allowed a run for the duration of their appearances. Gavilan Fogarty-Harnish (Ephrata, Pa./Ephrata) got out of a jam in the top of the eighth, retiring both batters he faced after Hunter was pulled with two on and one out. 
 
Fogarty-Harnish walked a man on base with one out in the ninth, but a critical error in the next at-bat allowed a second Raider to reach base. The Ephrata-native got the second out, but then gave up three straight singles, which allowed a total of three runs for SU to score in the inning. 
 
Fogarty-Harnish took the game one loss, surrendering three unearned runs, moving his record to 5-2. Sims earned the win for the Raiders to improve to 9-3 while Hope picked up his sixth save of the season. 
 
Game Two
Shippensburg delivered its second-consecutive outstanding pitching performance with Gabe Mosser on the mound for game two. Mosser (7-4) earned the complete game win, giving up just four hits and one earned run, striking out nine. 
 
On the flip side, Golden Bear starter Mike Kammerer (Allentown, Pa./Allentown Central Catholic) struggled in his 5.1 innings of work, giving up nine hits and six runs, of which only three were earned. Down 4-0 after 5.0 innings, the Maroon and Gold's error in the top of the sixth allowed two more runs to score in that inning, creating a six-run deficit that they could not overcome. 
 
Kammerer's record falls to 4-3 with the loss with Zach Peters (Lititz, Pa./Warwick) pitching 1.2 scoreless innings to finish out the game after his exit in the sixth. 
 
First pitch from Shippensburg's Fairchild Field tomorrow will be at 1 p.m.