JAMESTOWN, N.Y. – The Shippensburg University baseball team put forth a ninth-inning rally on Sunday in Game 10 of the 2017 NCAA Atlantic Region Championships, scoring three runs in its final at-bat, but the Raiders ultimately came up a run short in a 9-8 loss to Winston Salem in an elimination game from Diethrick Park.
 
Shippensburg (31-24-1) raced out to a 5-1 lead entering the bottom of the fourth inning, but Winston-Salem State (38-18) put forth a decisive five-run frame to take the lead. The inning was extended due to a pair of infield hits, with the Raiders failing to cover first on one play, before leadoff batter Randy Norris capped it off with a three-run home run to dead center field.
 
The Rams led 6-5 after four innings, a score that would remain until the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA) champions added three runs in the eighth to take a 9-5 lead. With two outs, Norris blooped a two-run single into right field – he finished the game with five RBIs.
 
Down to its final three outs, the Raiders loaded the bases with one out on a hit-by-pitch, walk and bloop single. Sophomore Cash Gladfelter drew a walk to make it 9-6, and senior Ryan McMillen delivered a two-run single to make it 9-8. A line-out double play felled the rally, ending the game.
 
Junior Grant Hoover had an excellent start on the mound – the five earned runs charged against him not being emblematic of his effort and performance. Hoover struck out a career-high 10 batters, walking just one and scattering seven hits over six innings. Five of the seven hits he allowed came in the decisive fourth inning, a frame in which SU had multiple chances to get the third out but multiple efforts evaded the Raiders.
 
SU chased WSSU started Kanoa Hironaka, one of just five pitchers in the country to throw more than 100 innings this season. Hironaka, who had pitched twice in relief in the tournament, left in the fourth after allowing five runs on eight hits.
 
The unsung hero for the Rams was Marcus McKoy, who threw 4.1 shutout innings of relief in his first appearance in more than a month (April 18 vs. Catawba). McKoy bridged the gap to closer Landon Steiner -- with a runner on third and two outs in the eighth, Steiner moved over from first base to strike out senior Jake Kennedy.
 
Shippensburg managed baserunners all game long, cranking out 12 hits, drawing five walks and never having a 1-2-3 inning at the plate, but the Raiders finished 4-for-15 with runners in scoring position and stranded 12 runners.
 
Sophomore Drew Bene was 2-for-3 with two walks – finishing the regional championships with five hits in three games. Sophomore Ty Painter had two hits, including a double.
 
In his final collegiate contest, McMillen reached base five times in six plate appearances. He was 3-for-4 with a solo home run (sixth of the season) and was hit twice by pitches. He completes his senior season with a team-best 81 hits and 64 runs (third in SU single-season history) while hitting .386 and boasting a phenomenal .488 on-base percentage.
 
Kennedy completes his career as the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) all-time home run king with 45 to go along with 145 RBIs in 167 games. His 22 home runs and 71 RBIs as a senior are single-season school records.

SU's third senior, pitcher Mark Curtis, was unable to compete at the regional championships due to injury. He wraps up a strong senior season with five wins and 48 strikeouts in 54 innings pitched. Curtis's career included 19 wins in 46 games (40 starts) with 184 career strikeouts.
 
Shippensburg completes its season having made its first Atlantic Regional Championships since 2013. After beginning the season 12-16-1, Shippensburg finished with a 19-8 record in its last 27 games.