SHIPPENSBURG, Pa. -- Bo Rottet (Tamaqua, Pa./Tamaqua) drove in five runs, Kutztown got strong pitching for a majority of the afternoon and the Golden Bears were three outs away from sweeping Friday's PSAC East-opening doubleheader at Shippensburg.

A pair of late rally from the Raiders in game two forced KU to settle for the split, with the visitors taking game one, 4-1, and Ship registering a walk-off, 9-8, victory in the nightcap at Fairchild Field.

Kutztown head coach Chris Blum moved within a win of 500 in his career following the Bears' game one win. Blum, already the winningest coach in program history, is attempting to become the fifth coach in PSAC history to reach the milestone at a conference school.

KUTZTOWN 4, SHIPPENSBURG 1
Game 1

Zach Moretski (Harleysville, Pa./La Salle College H.S.) cranked his first career homer, Bo Rottet (Tamaqua, Pa./Tamaqua) provided go-ahead and insurance runs and Doug Conrad (West Chester, Pa./Downingtown West) fired six solid innings to help the Golden Bears snap a five-game slide.

Kutztown (1-0 PSAC East, 2-9) jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the top of the second when Moretski drove Zack Sims' 1-0 pitch over the wall in left center, but Ship quickly got the run back on Lake Lloyd's RBI single in the bottom of the inning.

The low-scoring game continued into the fifth. Each team had a runner on base in the third and fourth innings, but it was Rottet's two-out single in the fifth plating Mike Villa (Scranton, Pa./West Scranton) to put the Golden Bears ahead for good.

Conrad cruised through six innings, giving up five hits, an unearned run and striking out three.

Rottet increased KU's lead to 4-1 in the seventh with a two-run double to right. Villa and Jacoby Pate (Harrisburg, Pa./Susquehanna Township) scored on the play.

Returning All-PSAC East Second Team reliever Gavilan Fogarty-Harnish (Ephrata, Pa./Ephrata) only needed 14 pitches to sit the Raiders down in order in the bottom of the seventh for his first save of the season.

KU had a 7-4 edge in hits with Rottet accounting for nearly half of them (3-for-4). Collin Bishop (Laurel Springs, N.J./Highland Regional), Jeff Zebrowski (Chester Springs, Pa./Bishop Shanahan), Moretski and Villa each had one.

Lloyd struck out five in six innings for Ship (0-1, 7-10), but took the loss by allowing two runs on five hits.

SHIPPENSBURG 9, KUTZTOWN 8
Game 2

Kutztown posted three spots on the scoreboard in the third and fourth innings to take a commanding 6-0 lead and Zach Peters (Lititz, Pa./Warwick) was almost untouchable with two hits allowed over five innings, but a pair of late inning comebacks by host Shippensburg spoiled Blum's pursuit of 500 career wins.

The Raiders scored six unearned runs in the bottom of the sixth to take a 7-6 lead, only to see Bo Rottet (Tamaqua, Pa./Tamaqua) drill a go-ahead two-run homer in the top of the seventh.

Shippensburg's bats weren't done, however. Shortstop Jacob Pollock hit a lead-off single and crossed home to tie it at seven on Zack Zoller's double. The Raiders walked off with the victory when the very next hitter, Tommy Baggett, singled on a 3-0 offering from Nick McAuliffe (Phillipsburg, N.J./Phillipsburg).

Five of Ship's 10 hits came in the sixth, when KU (1-1, 2-10) was an out away from escaping the inning with a 6-2 advantage. Back-to-back run-scoring singles drew Ship (1-1, 8-10) within 6-4 before Justin Darden belted a three-run shot to give his team the lead.

Peters, who struck out four, finished with seven runs allowed (one earned) on six hits across six frames. Michael Hope grabbed the win despite serving up Rottet's seventh-inning homer, while McAuliffe suffered the loss.

Collin Bishop (Laurel Springs, N.J./Highland Regional) totaled a game-high three hits, going 3-for-4 with a double, a walk and two runs scored. Jeff Charles (Whitehall, Pa./Whitehall), Zach Moretski (Harleysville, Pa./La Salle College H.S.) (3 RBI) and Rottet added a pair of hits, and Jake Augustus (Schnecksville, Pa./Northwestern Lehigh) hit a fourth-inning home run --the first of his career.

Darden had three RBIs, all coming on his sixth inning swing of the bat, while Baggett and Zoller each knocked in two.

ON DECK
With North Campus Field not yet recovered from Thursday's extensive rains, the series between the Golden Bears and Raiders will conclude on Sunday, March 24, in Kutztown with a doubleheader. Game one begins at 1 p.m.