The Bloomsburg University baseball team is off to a strong start as the team stands at a 13-5 record after beating Shippensburg in three out of four games over the weekend. The Huskies currently sit at second in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) eastern division standings.
Bloomsburg now has a 5-1 record in PSAC play which ties with first-place Lock Haven (13-4 overall).  

     The Huskies are coming off a back-to-back doubleheader weekend with Shippensburg, with two games played on both Friday and Saturday afternoon. The Huskies swept the Friday duo with 5-0 and 8-0 victories at Danny Litwhiler Feld. The teams went on to split the Saturday games at Fairchild Field in Shippensburg, Pa. Bloomsburg won game one, 5-4, and then dropped game two, 5-1.

     Fueling the Huskies in the first game on Friday was junior Asthon Raines, who was named the Nation Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) Atlantic Region Pitcher of the week on Apr. 3rd. Raines was also named the PSAC Eastern Division Pitcher of the Week a day later. The junior allowed only two hits on the afternoon and took only 92 pitches to shut out the Raiders in a 5-0 victory.

     The win put Raines to a perfect 5-0 in the 2018 season. He now owns a 2.25 ERA in 32 innings. Junior Catcher Ryan Shiffer led the Huskies offensively in the opening game, scoring two runs and batting two runs in on a sixth-inning single.

     Then it was the freshman Nick Stoner who took the mound in game two on Friday. He pitched five innings and led the Huskies to an 8-0 victory over the Raiders in a three-hit performance. The win put Stoner at 2-0 on the year and set his ERA to 1.48.

     All the Bloomsburg offense was involved in the second victory on the cold and damp Friday afternoon at Danny Litwhiler Field, but it was sophomore Cole Swiger who scored three runs for Bloomsburg.

     The Huskies then traveled to Shippensburg to face the Raiders in another doubleheader the next day, where the teams went on to split the duo.
The first game of the afternoon was won by the Huskies by a score of 5-4. Sophomore J.J. Spehrley started on the mound for Bloomsburg and tossed five innings, allowing only four hits with four strikeouts. Junior Trey Hinkle came in and recorded the big save after Shippensburg came to within just one of the Huskies in the bottom of the seventh inning after an error and a two-run home run.

     Swiger led the squad in game one by going 4-4 with a solo home run and a two-RBI single. Redshirt senior Austin Edgette, Shiffer and sophomore Andrew Holmes had the other hits for Bloomsburg in the victory.

     Shippensburg did go on to come out strong in the second game, defeating the Huskies 5-1. The loss made it the Huskies’ first in PSAC play, bringing their record in conference games to 5-1. Sophomore Chad Cooperman took his second loss of the season and redshirt junior Shane Woelfel drove in Swiger off an RBI single in the first inning.

     The Huskies take their 13-5 record to East Stroudsburg where they face the Warriors in a doubleheader on Saturday afternoon. First pitch for game one is slated for 3:00 pm.