BASEBALL: 2 pitchers combine for 5-hit shutout for Shippensburg

NEW OXFORD >> Tegan Staver and Zach Barnhart combined for a five-hit shutout to lead Shippensburg to a 9-0 victory over New Oxford in non-conference baseball action on a sunny, but windy Monday afternoon.

Staver worked the first 4 1/3 innings and allowed four hits with three strikeouts and three walks to earn the victory. He threw 40 strikes out of 73 pitches and left after allowing a one-out single in the bottom of the fifth.

Barnhart took over on the mound and retired the last two hitters of the frame and eight of the nine batters he faced, yielding a sixth-inning single to Alex Smith for the only baserunner he allowed to reach. Barnhart struck out one and didn't issue a walk.

"Teagan pitched well while he was out there, but he was pitching on short rest. So we wanted to get him out of the game if we could," Ship coach Nate Rosenberry said. "We built a nice lead and wanted to get a look at Zach, too."

Both teams stranded runners on first and second in the opening inning before the Greyhounds opened the scoring in the top of the second when Cole Friese singled home Brandt Swartz with two down.

Ship (7-3) added two more in the fourth when Friese and Daulton Brenize registered back-to-back RBI singles to plate Damon Watkins and Zane Hershey, respectively.

New Oxford (6-7) had a chance to close the gap in the fourth when the Colonials loaded the bases with two outs on a single from Josh Shultz and walks drawn by Dominic Grimes and Devin Chesney before Staver induced a groundout to keep the margin at 3-0. For the game, the New Oxford left seven men on base, four in scoring position.

"We're struggling to get the key base hit," New Oxford coach Scott Anderson said. "And when you're struggling to hit, you have to get it going early and we didn't today."

The Hounds bumped their advantage to 5-0 in the top of the fifth when Matt Frick doubled home Nick Jacoby and Watkins followed with a single that chased Frick home.

Brenize then keyed a four-run rally in the top of the seventh with a two-run single.

For the day, Shippensburg pounded out 12 hits, getting three from Brenize and two each from Frick, Friese, Watkins and Cordell Shannon. Ship coaxed six walks out of the four Colonial hurlers and didn't strike out at all.

"We swung the bats well, put the ball in play and had a good approach at the plate today," Rosenberry said. "And that's not always something we've done this year."

Shippensburg 9, New Oxford 0

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W — Teagan Staver (4-0); L — Josh Shultz.

LOB — Ship 11, NO 7; 2B — (S) Cordell Shannon, Matt Frick; SB — (S) Damon Watkins, (NO) Shultz.

T — 2:05.