JOHNSTOWN, Pa. – The Shippensburg University baseball team got a strong start from junior pitcher Nick Umberger and scored five runs with two outs in the fifth inning on a sunny Thursday morning from Point Stadium to earn a 5-4 win over divisional rival East Stroudsburg – SU's first victory in the PSAC Tournament since 2008.

Shippensburg (23-27) fell behind 2-0 in the bottom of the first inning after three straight two-out hits by the Warriors. ESU's No. 2 through No. 5 hitters consistently raked on Thursday, going 11-for-18 at the plate. The rest of the Warrior lineup was 1-for-18.

Umberger was resilient after the opening frame, keeping the Warriors silent for the next six innings. He finished his outing by allowing four runs on 11 hits in 7.2 innings, walking three and striking out four. His season record improved to 5-5.

The decisive fifth-inning rally began with one out. Junior Tyler Uphouse hit a clean single up the middle and senior Jesse Smith doubled off the left-field wall to put two runners in scoring position. After a strikeout, senior AJ Czap laced an 0-2 pitch into left-center field for a two-run single.

A splendid bunt single by junior Eric Herman kept the momentum going for sophomore Sam Phillips, who hit a clean single into center field. Czap and Herman scored on the play – in an attempt to throw out Herman at third base, the ball caromed into the Shippensburg dugout, moving the runners up an additional base.

Two pitches later, junior Ben Miller slammed a double off the “Screen Monster” in left field to plate Herman for the fifth run of the inning.

Umberger started to tire in the eighth, as a single and a one-out walk put two runners on base. Warrior center fielder Chris Knott hit a clean double to left field that took an unforgiving ricochet off the “Screen Monster” – allowing both runners to score and Knott to reach third base after the throw went to home plate. After a comebacker, Umberger walked catcher Nico Delerme and was lifted after throwing 116 pitches.

Junior Kody Kibler came out of the bullpen and walked the first batter he faced to set up a bases-loaded confrontation with Tom Spilatore – a sophomore who entered the game defensively in the top of the inning after Evan Cain was ejected in the seventh for arguing a call at first base. Kibler hunkered down and froze Spilatore with a wicked bender to end the inning.

In the ninth, Kibler allowed a two-out single up the middle before inducing a groundout to end the game. It is his seventh save of the season – the most by a Raider pitcher in over 10 years.

Seven of Shippensburg's nine batters had at least one hit in Thursday's game. Herman was the only SU player with multiple hits on Thursday – he is 4-for-9 through two games with three runs scored. Miller's fifth-inning double was his team-leading 12th this season. Perhaps most importantly, SU left just three runners on base and did not commit an error after hanging five on the scoreboard in yesterday's game.

Shippensburg will play Friday at 9:30 a.m. against Bloomsburg. The winner of that game will play IUP at 3:30 p.m. on Friday.