Published: May 17, 2008 11:55 pm      

Shippensburg continues its domination

The top three hitters in the Shippensburg batting order combined for eight hits as the Raiders advanced to the championship round of the NCAA Division II North Atlantic Regional with a 10-5 win against West Chester.

Kyle Rhoades and Tyler Redick recorded three hits each and Justin Garber added a pair of doubles for a Raiders attack that reached double figures in scoring for a third straight NCAA Tournament contest.

The trio pounced on West Chester starter David Slusser for three straight singles to start the game. Redick’s hit plated Garber with the contest’s first run. Rhoades later scored on a Rick Shumway groundout.

Three straight walks got the second inning off to a good start for Shippensburg (37-23) as Kasey Kuhns, Sean Killian and Eric Dezell each walked.

A misplayed Garber single to left emptied the bases as the Raiders pushed the lead to 5-0.

Dezell’s run-scoring single in the third brought Ashton Taughinbaugh around for a 6-0 Shippensburg advantage.

West Chester (43-15) cut into the deficit with a pair of runs in their half of the third.

Matt Cotellese continued his hot hitting with a two-run double that scored Kevin McGrath and Brandon Wolfe.

Frank Nunan helped West Chester add another in the fifth as the Golden Rams pulled within 6-3. He led off the inning with a single, stole second and eventually scored on a Wolfe hit.

Both teams put two runs on the board in the seventh. The Raiders took advantage of a key error as they plated two unearned runs. Nick Spisak and Cotellese produced run-scoring singles for West Chester as the Rams drew within 8-5, but Shippensburg starter Jason Kelly squelched the rally. West Chester left a pair of runners on when Kelly got Bob Stumpo to strike out and Nunan grounded into a fielder’s choice to end the inning.

Shippensburg put up a pair of insurance runs in the ninth when Kuhns notched a two-run single for the final margin.

Kyle Warner completed his scoreless two-inning stint on the mound for the Raiders in the bottom of the ninth to record his third save.

Kelly (7-2) scattered 10 hits and walked none in seven innings to pick up the win. He fanned six West Chester batters.

Slusser (7-4), the first of four West Chester pitchers, was tagged with the loss with a final ledger of four hits and five earned runs allowed in 11⁄3 innings.

Cotellese and Wolfe led the Golden Rams offense with three hits each.

TheRed Raiders will play for the championship today at noon.

Shippensburg, the tournament’s lone unbeaten, needs only one victory today to advance to the NCAA Division II baseball championships later this month in suburban St. Louis.