SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. -- The IUP baseball team stayed alive in the 2024 Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Baseball Tournament with a 3-2 victory over Shippensburg on Friday morning at Slippery Rock's Jack Critchfield Park.
IUP (33-14) answered back to tie the score twice, taking the lead for good in the sixth on a
Davin Landers single up the middle. The IUP pitching staff got timely outs in big situations as the combination of
Jake Black and
Derrick Shields limited Shippensburg (27-21) to just a pair of runs.
The Raiders loaded the bases twice in the game, only able to drive home two runs via sacrifice flies to the outfield in the elimination game. The Crimson Hawks, the lone remaining team in the tournament from the PSAC Western division, responded back in the home half of the first and fourth innings and tied the score.
Black allowed the two runs on five hits.
Derrick Shields clamped things down from there over the final four innings on the mound. Making his second relief appearance of the PSAC Tournament, Shields fanned four and allowed one hit in four innings of scoreless work.
Harrison Pontoli led off the game with a home run for IUP in the first.
Brady Yard and Landers posted two hits apiece offensively.
Robert Carfagno drove in the tying run in the fourth with a single that dropped perfectly in center field, allowing the already rumbling Yard to race home.
Shippensburg starter J.T. Weaver was tagged with loss, allowing three earned runs over five innings. IUP secured its highest single-season win total since 2008 (36) and continue bolstering their NCAA Tournament resume.
Friday's game was originally set for Thursday night, pushed to the morning due to inclement weather. The Hawks return to action later in the day, facing the loser of the East Stroudsburg/West Chester matchup at approximately 5:30 p.m.
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