The Belmont Abbey baseball team gained a split with the visiting 23rd-ranked Shippensburg University Raiders this afternoon at Abbey Yard, falling 4-3 in the opener before rallying to even the series with an 8-4 in game two. Belmont Abbey is now 2-3, while Shippensburg, which is ranked first in the NCAA Atlantic Region poll after earning an NCAA Division II World Series spot in 2008, is 1-1.

The opener was a pitchers duel, as Crusaders starter Tyler Powell and Raiders starter Tim Feshour combined to allow just three hits in seven innings of work. Freshour allowed a solo home run on one hit in seven innings, striking out three and walking none, while Powell was just as dominant, scattering two hits over seven scoreless innings, fanning seven and walking one.

Scoreless until the fifth, the Abbey drew first blood as first baseman Daniel Kassouf blasted a one out solo homer for a 1-0 Crusader edge. Powell made the lead stand up, as he retired the Raiders in order in the sixth and seventh, striking out three of those batters, before giving way to John Merritt in the eighth.

Shippensburg tied the game at one in the eighth on a solo homer by Cody Culp, but the Abbey responded with two runs of its own in the eighth to reclaim the lead at 3-1, using a two-run single by Roland Rodriguez that plated Vinny Santoemma and Patrick Atwell.

Down to its final three outs, the Raiders pushed three runs across, using three consecutive RBI singles to grab the lead back at 4-3. The Abbey went down in order in the bottom of the ninth.

Kody Kibler earned the win after giving up two hits in one scoreless inning, striking out one. Jordan Cudney was saddled with the loss after he gave up two runs on four hits in four batters faced. Tyler Redick was credited with the save after he worked a perfect ninth inning.

In the nightcap, Kassouf drove in four of the eight runs on a grand slam as the Abbey never trailed in the game after plating a run in the first. Atwell reached on a leadoff triple and later scored on a wild pitch.

Kassouf then made it 5-0 in the fourth when he blasted a grand slam over the wall in center, for his second homer of the day. The Raiders cut the lead to 5-3 in the fifth, but the Abbey matched it to pull ahead 8-3, scoring all three runs on Spencer Sobol's three run blast down the left field line. Shippensburg added one in the sixth on an RBI double by Redick to end the scoring.

Michael Raymond earned the win after allowing three runs on six hits in five innings, fanning four and walking a pair as he moved his record to 1-1. Jason Kelly was tagged with the loss after giving up five runs on seven hits in four innings.