LOCK HAVEN, Pa. – Despite owning leads in both games, the Lock Haven University (7-19, 1-11 PSAC) baseball team dropped a Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) East Division doubleheader to visiting Shippensburg University (13-17, 8-4 PSAC) on Saturday afternoon at Watkins Field.

Lock Haven led in the middle innings of the opener before falling by a 6-1 tally and took a lead into the ninth inning before dropping game two by a 9-5 score.

Game 1: L, 6-1

In game one, the Bald Eagles held an early lead before the Raiders took the lead for good in the fifth inning.

Following a scoreless inning of action, Lock Haven took advantage of a Shippensburg miscue to get on the board in the second. Joe Shannon (Warminster, Pa./William Tennent (Mercer CC)) reached base via a fielding miscue by the Raiders shortstop and advanced to second base on a Blaise Zeiders (Selinsgrove, Pa./Selinsgrove) single through the right side.

Shannon moved to third base on a Zach Kaatz (Stafford, Va./Mountain View) fielder's choice groundout and was plated one batter later on Nepert's fielder's choice as the Bald Eagles opened up a 1-0 lead after two innings of play.

Lock Haven starter Kevin Worek (Huntingdon Valley, Pa./Abington) worked his way out of a jam in the third and cruised through the fourth as the Bald Eagles maintained a 1-0 edge after four innings.

The visiting Raiders got to Worek in the fifth, tagging three runs on the board to own a 3-1 lead before adding a trio of insurance runs in the sixth.

LHU looked to trim the deficit in the seventh inning but couldn't plate an early base runner as the Bald Eagles eventually fell by a 6-1 tally.

Three Bald Eagles scattered a hit each in the loss, while Worek was tagged with the loss after surrendering five runs on six hits over five innings of work.

Shippensburg starter Noah Nabholz silenced the LHU bats in securing the win. Nabholz pitched a complete game three-hitter and allowed one unearned run in the process of securing his fourth victory of the season.

Game 2: L, 9-5

Lock Haven jumped on the board early in the second half of the twin bill plating a pair of runs in each of the first two innings of action.

After putting the Raiders down in order in the first, LHU wasted little time in getting on the board in game two. Gavin Troutman (Boyertown, Pa./Oley Valley) worked the count full to lead the inning off before belting a double to the gap in right field. Troutman was pushed home on a Justin Lichtenwalner (Lancaster, Pa./Hempfield) single to right field to put the Bald Eagles up by a 1-0 margin.

Shippensburg threatened in the top of the second but left the bases loaded before the Bald Eagles added an insurance run in the bottom of the frame. With one away in the second inning, Nepert blasted a 2-2 pitch over the 320-foot sign in left field to extend the Lock Haven lead to 2-0.

Lock Haven righty RJ Kruse (Milford, Pa./ Delaware Valley (Lackawanna)) rolled through the third and fourth innings unscathed as the Bald Eagles took a 2-0 advantage into the middle of the contest.

Nepert's heroics continued with his second at-bat in the nightcap. After watching the first pitch go by for a ball, the Preston, Md. native roped a pitch over the fence in right-center field to extend the Lock Haven lead to 3-0.

Shippensburg trimmed the gap in the seventh with a single run before knotting the game up with a pair of tallies in the eighth.

Following the Raiders outburst, Lock Haven responded in a big way in the home half of the eighth. Jake Mastillo (Roaring Brook Twp, Pa./North Pocono) was hit by pitch with two away to put a Bald Eagle on the base paths. With a runner on first, Shannon belted the first pitch he saw over the right-field fence to push Lock Haven out to a 5-3 lead with one inning of action remaining.

In the top of the ninth, Shippensburg knotted the game up on a two-RBI double to right field and took the lead on a single through the right side before adding three more insurance runs to put the Bald Eagles in a 9-5 hole with three outs remaining.

Lock Haven went down in order in the ninth to drop the nightcap by a 9-5 tally.

Nepert led the Lock Haven bats with a 2-for-3 outing with two RBI and a pair of runs scored. Troutman added a pair of hits for the Bald Eagles to round out a seven-hit effort.

Next Up:

The Bald Eagles are back in action on Tuesday, April 5 when they host Indiana (Pa.) in a weekday doubleheader. First pitch of game one against the Crimson Hawks is set for 1 p.m.