Game 1 | Game 2
Millersville, Pa. - Millersville opened PSAC East play against West Chester with four runs in the first inning. The Marauders held on for a 4-3 win in the opener, but did not score over the final 13 innings of Friday's games and dropped game two, 4-0.
Millersville (12-4, 1-1 PSAC East) jumped all over Matt Zelinski (1-1) in game one. Ryan McCormick jump-started the offense with a lead off single. One batter later, Derek Kline ripped the first pitch he saw over the left field wall for his fifth homer of the year. Zach Stone singled with two outs, and Carlos Medina put Millersville on top 4-0 with a home run to left center field.
Marauder starter Derek Kline (3-0) breezed through the first three innings, but West Chester struck for two unearned runs in the fourth, and Kline walked the bases loaded in the fifth. Jason Long came on, and after allowing a sacrifice fly, he escaped the jam, keeping Kline in position for the win.
Zelinski kept West Chester in the game by blanking the Marauders for six innings, but his offense offered little help. Millersville's Zach Eckley entered in the top of the seventh and converted his first save of the season.
Zelinski threw five shutout innings, but he was tagged with the loss. He gave up seven hits and walked one. Kline earned the win, allowing two unearned runs one two hits and three walks. He also struck out five in four innings.
West Chester freshman Joe Gunkel kept going what Zelinski started. He stymied the Marauders throughout game two. Millersville didn't get its first hit until the fourth. Matt Baer gave West Chester a lead in the second on a sacrifice fly.
Marauders' starter Brooks Rothschild (3-1) was erratic but held West Chester to just one run until the sixth. A single and a walk put two runners on base, and with two outs, Baer came through for the Golden Rams again. He hit the first pitch he saw for his first homer of the season. That blow put West Chester in front, 4-0.
Millersville started a rally in the bottom of the seventh, drawing three walks from Gunkel. With the tying run at the plate and two outs, Gunkel managed to get Jeff Heisey looking on a pitch that nipped that outside corner.
Millersville managed just two hits in the finale, and Gunkel did not walk a batter until the seventh. Rothschild, who suffered his first loss of the year, went the distance but gave up five hits and walked four.
Friday's doubleheader was the start of a busy weekend for the Marauders. They travel to West Chester for two on Saturday and then return to Marauder Park for a twinbill with University of the Sciences Sunday. Sunday's games begin at 12 p.m.
