Wednesday, June 1
Cary, N.C.
3 p.m.
Millersville University
vs
Mount Olive
No. 6 Millersville and No. 2 Mount Olive Meet Again
5/31/2011 3:57:45 PM | Baseball
Complete Game Notes
GAME INFORMATION
No. 6 Millersville (44-10) vs. No. 2 Mount Olive (46-9)
NCAA Division II Championship - Wednesday, June 1 - 3 p.m.
USA Baseball Complex - Cary, N.C.
MEDIA INFORMATION
Audio Broadcast (MSBN)
Live Stats
MSBN Blog
Live Video
TICKET INFORMATION
· All-Session Passes: $30
· Single Game Tickets: $10 Adults, $5 Seniors/Students
(All tickets are general admission and available at the gate)
SERIES INFORMATION
Millersville vs. Mount Olive: Mount Olive, 1-0
Last Meeting: May 28, 2011 - Mount Olive 3, Millersville 1
ABOUT THE GAME
• On Wednesday at the USA Baseball Complex, Millersville will face a top-three ranked team for the third game in a row. Millersville won a NCAA Championship round game for the second time in school history on Monday by eliminating No. 3 Central Missouri 1-0. Mount Olive, with previously unbeaten Carter Capps on the mound, was surprisingly defeated by Winona State 9-3. For Millersville, a win over Mount Olive would be monumental. Not only would a win keep the Marauders' season alive, it would give them 45 on the season, tying the school record for wins in a season. It would also mark the first time since 1992 that a PSAC team won two games in the finals.
• The NCBWA announced its All-America teams on Tuesday morning, and shortstop Mike August became the first Marauder to be named to be honored since George McClure in 2000. August was named to the third team.
BATTERY MATES
• Mike Perez will be behind the plate for Tim Mayza's third straight start. Perez entered the postseason with just three starts behind the plate, but he caught Mayza in both the PSAC Tournament and the NCAA Atlantic Regional. In those games, Mayza posted a 2.08 ERA, allowing four runs and 13 hits in 13.0 innings. He walked two and struck out five. In his five starts at catcher, Perez is hitting .250 with seven RBIs. Perez is averaging exactly one RBI per start (13 in 13 starts).
ON FIRE
• Zach Stone and Mike August have been responsible for Millersville's only two RBIs in the NCAA Championship round. The duo of first-year Marauders have been red-hot in the postseason. In 10 games and 35 at bats, Stone is hitting .400 with six doubles seven RBIs and a .511 on base percentage. His OPS in that stretch is 1.071. August has been consistent, mirroring his regular season numbers with a .386 average, five doubles and six RBIs. The pair also boasts the team's longest hitting streaks. Stone has hit in eight in a row and August has hit in five in a row.
EVEN BETTER WITH THE LEATHER
• Millersville finished the regular season as the No. 1 defense in the nation with a .979 fielding percentage. That number has only improved in the postseason as the Marauders have posted a .982 fielding percentage in 10 games. The position players have committed only five of those errors. Pitcher Mike McMonagle has two of them. The Marauders have also averaged 0.7 double players per game after turning 21 in 45 regular season games.
ALL ABOUT OFFENSE
• It's incredibly important that Millersville gets its bats going against Mount Olive, which entered the tournament ranked No. 3 in the nation in team batting average. The Marauders have held opponents to two runs or fewer 25 times, but they have struggled to score at times. The Marauders have failed to score more than three runs in eight of their 11 losses. When the opposition scores first, Millersville is 8-7. Conversly, the team is 32-4 when it scores first. It is also vital for leadoff hitter Ryan McCormick to reach base. He has failed to reach base in only eight games this year, but the Marauders are 2-6 in those games. The Marauders are 31-3 when they score at least five runs.
• Zach Stone has reached base safely in 13 consecutive games. He has failed to reach base in only five games this year.
SOUTHPAW SUCCESS
• Set-up man Jason Long is a converted starter who has found his niche. In 27.0 innings and 19 appearances this year, the lefty owns a 2-0 record and 1.67 ERA. Opponents are hitting just .154 against him. His WHIP is an outstanding .889. He's appeared in six of the team's 10 postseason games, throwing a total of 6.2 innings. He has not allowed a run in his last 6.0 innings and has totaled seven strikeouts in his outings. His three strikeouts against Mount Olive on May 28 were a season high.
REPRESENTING THE PSAC
• Millersville is now 2-3 all-time at the championship. No team from the PSAC has ever won a national title. Only Mansfield in 1992 reached the title game. The PSAC is 14-41 all-time in the championship. The representative failed to win a single game in 10 of 20 appearances. Since Mansfield's title game appearance, no PSAC team has won more than one game.
THE LAST TIME OUT
• In Monday's NCAA Division II Championship game against No. 3 Central Missouri, the Marauders received a first-inning run off the bat of Zach Stone, and it stood up for a 1-0 victory thanks to a lights-out performance from McMonagle, Jason Long and Zach Eckley.
• The trio of pitchers guided Millersville to its 10th shutout win of the season and completed the first 1-0 game in an NCAA finals game since 1987. McMonagle (9-1) has now earned the win in seven straight starts, and he has pitched at least 6.1 innings in six consecutive outings. Eckley, ranked third in the NCAA in saves, notched his 11th of the season.
• Millersville, which had made a living all season by jumping into the lead, manufactured a run in the first inning. Derek Kline reached on a two-out, infield single and then swiped second base for his ninth steal in nine attempts this year. Stone lined a 2-2 pitch into left field to plate Kline.
• The one run was all Millersville could manage against Kurtis Schuyler (6-2), who scattered seven hits over 6.0 innings.
THE SERIES
• Millersville and Mount Olive met for the first time ever on May 28 and now four days later, the two teams tangle again in the NCAA Division II Championship tournament. Mount Olive topped the Marauders 3-1 behind 7.1 perfect innings from Pete Levitt. Mike Knox hit a solo homer and Jacob Rogers drove in two with a triple. Brooks Rothschild allowed three runs in 7.1 innings in just his second loss of the season. Millersville managed three hits, and the lone RBI came from Mike August.
CAROLINA DREAMIN'
• Millersville regularly makes trips south during the first weeks of the season, and the Marauders are no strangers to the state of North Carolina. In 2011, Millersville have played nine games in N.C., posting a 7-2 record. Under Jon Shehan, Millersville is 18-16 when playing in the state. Nearby Williamston, N.C. has become a home away from home for the Marauders. The Marauders have played there each of the last two seasons, hosted a three-team tournament in 2011 and has plans for expanding the tournament to include more teams in 2012. Millersville posted a 6-0 record and outscored its opponents 79-2 in games played in Williamston.
WHAT A CAREER
• Derek Kline will most likely be remembered as the best baseball player in Millersville history. The first baseman/pitcher is a three-time All-PSAC East selection, the 2008 PSAC East Rookie of the Year and a two-time All-Atlantic Region selection. This year, he was the Daktronics and ABCA All-Atlantic Region First Team pick at first base. He has a chance to be the first Marauder to ever play 200 career games, and he is the all-time leader in at-bats, hits, RBIs, doubles, total bases and put-outs. He is just one extra base shy of tying Millersville Athletic Hall of Famer Ryan Brink for that record, too.
• Kline started his career at Shippensburg University, and after redshirting in 2007, he was cut from the team. He transferred to Millersville and immediately won the league's rookie of the year honors. On April 15, Kline exacted a measure of revenge against his former club when he set Millersville's career hits record in a 13-5 win over Shippensburg. He also started the game on the mound and earned the win.
• A rarity in college baseball, Kline is not only a slugger but a starting pitcher against conference opponents. Kline has twice been named PSAC East Pitcher of the Week. He won the award on May 2, 2011 when he out-dueled the naton's ERA leader, Jeremy Gigliotti, for a 1-0 win. The victory clinched the PSAC East title for Millersville. In three seasons on the mound, Kline owns a 3.46 ERA in 145.2 innings pitched. He has a 13-10 career record and was the winning pitcher for the 2011 Atlantic Regional Championship clincher. He allowed three runs in six innings.
DRAFT PICKS
• There will be plenty of talent MLB Draft caliber talent on the field this week in Cary, and Millersville has a pair of players that have previously had their names called. In 2009, Derek Kline was selected in the 34th round by the Detroit Tigers as a pitcher. The then-redshirt sophomore decided not to sign and has since nearly every offensive record in Millersville history. The 2009 season was Kline's first as a pitcher, and he went 3-3 with a 2.87 ERA and three complete games in six starts.
• Freshman right-hander Tad Barton was picked out of Muhlenberg High School by the Arizona Diamondbacks in the 49th round of the 2010 draft. He did not sign and came to Millersville where he had an outstanding first year. He posted a 6-0 record and a 3.15 ERA in 40.0 innings. His 0.85 strikeouts per inning are best in the team.
PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
• The entire Millersville team contributed to the 43 wins in 2011, and evidence of that are the four different players that won player of the week awards. Junior pitcher Brooks Rothschild won PSAC East Pitcher of the Week twice in March.
• On April 4, Zach Stone became the first Marauder to win the player of the week award since March of 2008. In a four-game series against Kutztown, he batted .500 (7-of-14) and drove in an incredible 10 runs—an average of 2.5 per game.
• Two weeks later, senior outfielder Corey Phelan won the award for the first time in his career. In a six-game stretch, he went 10-for-19, recorded at least one hit in five games, and had four multi-hit games. He also swiped two bases in two tries and did not strike out in 20 plate appearances.
• Derek Kline became Millersville's second pitcher to win the award on May 2. He was named NCBWA Atlantic Region Pitcher of the Week the following day.
CAN'T STRIKE 'EM OUT
• Zach Stone is among the toughest in the country to sit down on strikes. In 54 games and 177 at bats, Stone has struck out just 11 times. His 16.09 at bat per strikeout average is in the top 30 in Division II. He has not struck out more than once in any game and has struck out in back-to-back games just once. Since March 20--a span of 36 games and 115 at bats--Stone has struck out just five times. From April 17-May 11, he went 12 games without a strikeout.
• Ryan McCormick and Mike August are also tough to punch out. August has just 17 strikeouts in 189 at bats, and McCormick has fanned just 14 times in 182 at bats.
STONE A SURPRISE
• Zach Stone walked on to the Millersville squad in 2010 and redshirted. Entering 2011, he was in a battle with incoming freshman Tyler McDonald for the starting job at third base. Stone eventually won the job and has delivered one of the best rookie seasons in Millersville history. His .361 batting average is second on the team, and he leads the team and is tied for second in the PSAC in RBIs. He was one of the favorites for PSAC East Rookie of the Year, but was somehow left off the all-league teams despite hitting 66 points higher and driving in 12 more runs than the first team pick and 36 points higher and 15 more RBIs than the second team pick.
• Stone was named Daktronics All-Atlantic Region Second Team. His .945 fielding percentage was among the best in the PSAC for third basemen, and he was an ABCA/Rawlings Gold Glove First Team selection.
• He has only continued to produce in the postseason. In eight postseason games, Stone is hitting .375 with six doubles, six RBIs and a .488 on base percentage.
MAKING THE MOST OF YOUR OPPORTUNITY
• Junior catcher Mike Perez came to Millersville from Anne Arundel Community College with a reputation as a slugger. He hit .435 with 11 homers in the JUCO ranks. For much of the 2011 season, though, he was stuck behind designated hitter/first baseman Carlos Medina and catcher Ryan Chesler on the depth chart. Prior to the NCAA regional, Perez had just 11 games and eight starts to his credit. In 32 at bats, he had six hits and seven RBIs. He played four games at catcher and the rest at DH.
• In the second game of the Atlantic Regional against Seton Hill, Perez was inserted into the lineup at DH. He went 1-for-3 with a RBI double in the game, and he remained the lineup throughout the tournament. He started the next game at catcher and went 2-for-4 with two RBIs. In the title game, he made his first start of the season at first base and went 3-for-4 with three RBIs, a walk, a double, three runs and Millersville's only home run of the regional. He doubled once in the NCAA Championship opener, giving him a .412 batting average (7-for-21) with three doubles and six RBIs.
SEASON FOR THE RECORD BOOKS
• Junior pitcher Brooks Rothschild turned in one of the best season's in school history, setting some long-standing Millersville records. The team's workhorse has thrown a 86.2 innings--26.2 more than any other pitcher on the team. With his 7.1 innings against Mount Olive, he passed Jay Dimler's record for innings pitched in a season that was set in 1988.
• Rothschild led the PSAC in victories and is now 10-2. He's tied with Timm Bromirski (1999) for the most wins in a season. He's also just one complete game from tying the single season record.
• Rothschild also inserted his name into the PSAC record books earlier this season. On March 12, he pitched three innings of relief to set a new PSAC mark for scoreless innings pitched at 27.0. The previous record was set by Clarion's Brad Frazier in 1992. While it took nearly 20 years for someone to break Frazier's record, Rothschild's mark stood only one week. East Stroudsburg's Jeremy Gigliotti set a new mark at 27.2.
• Rothschild was named All-Atlantic Region Second Team by the NCBWA and Daktronics. He was an All-PSAC East First Team selection and a two-time PSAC East Pitcher of the Week.
POWER SURGE
• Much of the talk in college baseball circles this year revolved around how the new bats have affected power numbers. The bats haven't made a difference to the Marauders as they led the PSAC in home runs with 33--nine more than the No. 2 team. Jeff Heisey (7) and Derek Kline (7) were both ranked in the top five in home runs. From 2010 to 2011, Millersville's home run numbers jumped by 10.
LEFT SIDE, STRONG SIDE
• First-year Marauders Mike August and Zach Stone have shored up the left side of the infield for Millersville. The duo ranks first and second on the team in average, doubles, runs and RBIs. They've combined for .942 fielding percentage, .369 batting average and 90 RBIs. In the previous two seasons combined, Millersville's third baseman and shortstop produced a .918 fielding percentage, .250 batting average and 71 RBIs.
• Both players were named ABCA/Rawlings Atlantic Region Glove Glove First Team.
MAJOR TURNAROUND
• Fifth-year seniors Corey Phelan and Scott Stevens have witnessed an incredible turnaround during their careers. As freshmen in 2007, the duo endured a 9-37 record. Since 2008, though, the Marauders have won 113 games. As seniors, Phelan and Stevens helped the team completely reverse their freshmen year record. Millersville posted a 37-8 record in the regular season.
COMEBACK PLAYER
• If Division II handed out a Comeback Player of the Year Award, junior pitcher Mike McMonagle would surely be one of the frontrunners. McMonagle posted an uninspiring 10.88 ERA in 15 appearances as a freshman. He threw just 0.2 innings in 2009 before undergoing Tommy John Surgery. He tossed just 4.2 innings in 2010 before being shut down.
• In 2011, he has been maybe Millersville's best starter. He was named ABCA All-Atlantic Region First Team, All-PSAC East Second Team and NCBWA All-Atlantic Region Third Team. He's posted a 9-1 record and 1.79 ERA. In three postseason starts, McMonagle is 3-0 with with a 1.74 ERA in 20.2 innings pitched. He's also struck out 17 and walked just 11 while allowing opponents to hit .176.
BRIGHT FUTURE
• Millersville won't be going away anytime soon under Coach Jon Shehan. The 2011 club has just five seniors and nine position starters and pitchers are first or second year players. Of Millersville's top seven hitters, four are in their first or second years at the Division II level.
• On the mound, freshmen Tim Mayza, Tad Barton and Adam Zipko and sophomore Brian Black all made significant contributions. Mayza logged 11 starts and posted a 6-3 record with a 3.75 ERA in 60.0 innings. In two postseason starts, Mayza owns the team's best ERA at 2.08. He threw 7.0 shutout innings against Mercyhurst in the PSAC Tournament and then threw six innings innings against Mercyhurst in the regional.
• Mayza allowed more than three runs just once in 11 starts and struck out at least four in five starts. Incredibly, Mayza has allowed only five extra base hits all season. He surrendered only one home run, and since then, he has thrown 28 innings without allowing an extra base hit.
• Barton and Zipko have combined to throw 12.2 scoreless innings of relief in the postseason. Barton allowed only one hit and one walk while striking out four in his five innings of work.
WHEN IT MATTERS MOST
• Millersville ranked fourth in the PSAC in batting average but scored 27 more runs than any other team in the conference and totaled 31 more RBIs than the No. 2 team. Millersville's offense produces at a high rate with runners in scoring position, hitting .328--27 points higher than the overall team average. Mike August is 33-for-68 (.478) with runners in scoring position, and Chris Edgar is also hitting over .400 with a .410 average. The Marauders also have a knack for scoring with two outs. The team has scored 128 two-out runs this year while its opponents have managed just 54. In 10 postseason games, the Marauders are hitting .303 with two outs and 23 of their 51 RBIs have come with two outs.
QUICK STARTERS, STRONG FINISHERS
• Millersville is a fast-starting team, and when it gets the lead, it almost never surrenders it. The Marauders have outscored opponents 60-29 in the first inning and 236-76 over the first four innings. That's an average of 4.5-1.4 per game.
• When leading after the sixth inning, the Marauders are 43-1. It's only loss came in the PSAC Tournament when Mercyhurst scored two runs in the ninth and won in 12 innings. In nine inning games, the Marauders are 15-1 when leading after eight.
• The late-inning lockdown is all about the bullpen. Senior closer Zach Eckley led the PSAC in saves in each of the last two years, and in the last two seasons, he's converted 15-of-16 save opportunities. This year, he ranks third in Division II with 11 saves.
DEFENSE WINS CHAMPIONSHIPS
• Much of Millersville's success can be credited to its air-tight defense. The Marauders led Division II in fielding percentage (.979). The team went error-free in 27 games this year, and committed more than one error just eight times.
• Four Millersville players were named to the ABCA/Rawlings Atlantic Region Gold Glove First Team: Zach Stone (third base), Ryan McCormick (second base), Corey Phelan (outfield) and Brooks Rothschild (pitcher). Phelan was also named to the team in 2008.
EXTRAS FOR AUGUST
• With 20 doubles, Mike August ranks second in the PSAC in doubles and is just three short of the Millersville single-season record held by now Millersville head coach Jon Shehan.
TAKING ON THE TOP
• Millersville is no stranger to taking on nationally-ranked teams. The Marauders have played 10 games against teams that were nationally ranked in 2011. They went 6-4 in those games with two losses to North Georgia in the opening series of the season, a loss to Mercyhurst in the conference playoffs and a loss to Mount Olive in the NCAA Championship.
GAME INFORMATION
No. 6 Millersville (44-10) vs. No. 2 Mount Olive (46-9)
NCAA Division II Championship - Wednesday, June 1 - 3 p.m.
USA Baseball Complex - Cary, N.C.
MEDIA INFORMATION
Audio Broadcast (MSBN)
Live Stats
MSBN Blog
Live Video
TICKET INFORMATION
· All-Session Passes: $30
· Single Game Tickets: $10 Adults, $5 Seniors/Students
(All tickets are general admission and available at the gate)
SERIES INFORMATION
Millersville vs. Mount Olive: Mount Olive, 1-0
Last Meeting: May 28, 2011 - Mount Olive 3, Millersville 1
ABOUT THE GAME
• On Wednesday at the USA Baseball Complex, Millersville will face a top-three ranked team for the third game in a row. Millersville won a NCAA Championship round game for the second time in school history on Monday by eliminating No. 3 Central Missouri 1-0. Mount Olive, with previously unbeaten Carter Capps on the mound, was surprisingly defeated by Winona State 9-3. For Millersville, a win over Mount Olive would be monumental. Not only would a win keep the Marauders' season alive, it would give them 45 on the season, tying the school record for wins in a season. It would also mark the first time since 1992 that a PSAC team won two games in the finals.
• The NCBWA announced its All-America teams on Tuesday morning, and shortstop Mike August became the first Marauder to be named to be honored since George McClure in 2000. August was named to the third team.
BATTERY MATES
• Mike Perez will be behind the plate for Tim Mayza's third straight start. Perez entered the postseason with just three starts behind the plate, but he caught Mayza in both the PSAC Tournament and the NCAA Atlantic Regional. In those games, Mayza posted a 2.08 ERA, allowing four runs and 13 hits in 13.0 innings. He walked two and struck out five. In his five starts at catcher, Perez is hitting .250 with seven RBIs. Perez is averaging exactly one RBI per start (13 in 13 starts).
ON FIRE
• Zach Stone and Mike August have been responsible for Millersville's only two RBIs in the NCAA Championship round. The duo of first-year Marauders have been red-hot in the postseason. In 10 games and 35 at bats, Stone is hitting .400 with six doubles seven RBIs and a .511 on base percentage. His OPS in that stretch is 1.071. August has been consistent, mirroring his regular season numbers with a .386 average, five doubles and six RBIs. The pair also boasts the team's longest hitting streaks. Stone has hit in eight in a row and August has hit in five in a row.
EVEN BETTER WITH THE LEATHER
• Millersville finished the regular season as the No. 1 defense in the nation with a .979 fielding percentage. That number has only improved in the postseason as the Marauders have posted a .982 fielding percentage in 10 games. The position players have committed only five of those errors. Pitcher Mike McMonagle has two of them. The Marauders have also averaged 0.7 double players per game after turning 21 in 45 regular season games.
ALL ABOUT OFFENSE
• It's incredibly important that Millersville gets its bats going against Mount Olive, which entered the tournament ranked No. 3 in the nation in team batting average. The Marauders have held opponents to two runs or fewer 25 times, but they have struggled to score at times. The Marauders have failed to score more than three runs in eight of their 11 losses. When the opposition scores first, Millersville is 8-7. Conversly, the team is 32-4 when it scores first. It is also vital for leadoff hitter Ryan McCormick to reach base. He has failed to reach base in only eight games this year, but the Marauders are 2-6 in those games. The Marauders are 31-3 when they score at least five runs.
• Zach Stone has reached base safely in 13 consecutive games. He has failed to reach base in only five games this year.
SOUTHPAW SUCCESS
• Set-up man Jason Long is a converted starter who has found his niche. In 27.0 innings and 19 appearances this year, the lefty owns a 2-0 record and 1.67 ERA. Opponents are hitting just .154 against him. His WHIP is an outstanding .889. He's appeared in six of the team's 10 postseason games, throwing a total of 6.2 innings. He has not allowed a run in his last 6.0 innings and has totaled seven strikeouts in his outings. His three strikeouts against Mount Olive on May 28 were a season high.
REPRESENTING THE PSAC
• Millersville is now 2-3 all-time at the championship. No team from the PSAC has ever won a national title. Only Mansfield in 1992 reached the title game. The PSAC is 14-41 all-time in the championship. The representative failed to win a single game in 10 of 20 appearances. Since Mansfield's title game appearance, no PSAC team has won more than one game.
THE LAST TIME OUT
• In Monday's NCAA Division II Championship game against No. 3 Central Missouri, the Marauders received a first-inning run off the bat of Zach Stone, and it stood up for a 1-0 victory thanks to a lights-out performance from McMonagle, Jason Long and Zach Eckley.
• The trio of pitchers guided Millersville to its 10th shutout win of the season and completed the first 1-0 game in an NCAA finals game since 1987. McMonagle (9-1) has now earned the win in seven straight starts, and he has pitched at least 6.1 innings in six consecutive outings. Eckley, ranked third in the NCAA in saves, notched his 11th of the season.
• Millersville, which had made a living all season by jumping into the lead, manufactured a run in the first inning. Derek Kline reached on a two-out, infield single and then swiped second base for his ninth steal in nine attempts this year. Stone lined a 2-2 pitch into left field to plate Kline.
• The one run was all Millersville could manage against Kurtis Schuyler (6-2), who scattered seven hits over 6.0 innings.
THE SERIES
• Millersville and Mount Olive met for the first time ever on May 28 and now four days later, the two teams tangle again in the NCAA Division II Championship tournament. Mount Olive topped the Marauders 3-1 behind 7.1 perfect innings from Pete Levitt. Mike Knox hit a solo homer and Jacob Rogers drove in two with a triple. Brooks Rothschild allowed three runs in 7.1 innings in just his second loss of the season. Millersville managed three hits, and the lone RBI came from Mike August.
CAROLINA DREAMIN'
• Millersville regularly makes trips south during the first weeks of the season, and the Marauders are no strangers to the state of North Carolina. In 2011, Millersville have played nine games in N.C., posting a 7-2 record. Under Jon Shehan, Millersville is 18-16 when playing in the state. Nearby Williamston, N.C. has become a home away from home for the Marauders. The Marauders have played there each of the last two seasons, hosted a three-team tournament in 2011 and has plans for expanding the tournament to include more teams in 2012. Millersville posted a 6-0 record and outscored its opponents 79-2 in games played in Williamston.
WHAT A CAREER
• Derek Kline will most likely be remembered as the best baseball player in Millersville history. The first baseman/pitcher is a three-time All-PSAC East selection, the 2008 PSAC East Rookie of the Year and a two-time All-Atlantic Region selection. This year, he was the Daktronics and ABCA All-Atlantic Region First Team pick at first base. He has a chance to be the first Marauder to ever play 200 career games, and he is the all-time leader in at-bats, hits, RBIs, doubles, total bases and put-outs. He is just one extra base shy of tying Millersville Athletic Hall of Famer Ryan Brink for that record, too.
• Kline started his career at Shippensburg University, and after redshirting in 2007, he was cut from the team. He transferred to Millersville and immediately won the league's rookie of the year honors. On April 15, Kline exacted a measure of revenge against his former club when he set Millersville's career hits record in a 13-5 win over Shippensburg. He also started the game on the mound and earned the win.
• A rarity in college baseball, Kline is not only a slugger but a starting pitcher against conference opponents. Kline has twice been named PSAC East Pitcher of the Week. He won the award on May 2, 2011 when he out-dueled the naton's ERA leader, Jeremy Gigliotti, for a 1-0 win. The victory clinched the PSAC East title for Millersville. In three seasons on the mound, Kline owns a 3.46 ERA in 145.2 innings pitched. He has a 13-10 career record and was the winning pitcher for the 2011 Atlantic Regional Championship clincher. He allowed three runs in six innings.
DRAFT PICKS
• There will be plenty of talent MLB Draft caliber talent on the field this week in Cary, and Millersville has a pair of players that have previously had their names called. In 2009, Derek Kline was selected in the 34th round by the Detroit Tigers as a pitcher. The then-redshirt sophomore decided not to sign and has since nearly every offensive record in Millersville history. The 2009 season was Kline's first as a pitcher, and he went 3-3 with a 2.87 ERA and three complete games in six starts.
• Freshman right-hander Tad Barton was picked out of Muhlenberg High School by the Arizona Diamondbacks in the 49th round of the 2010 draft. He did not sign and came to Millersville where he had an outstanding first year. He posted a 6-0 record and a 3.15 ERA in 40.0 innings. His 0.85 strikeouts per inning are best in the team.
PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
• The entire Millersville team contributed to the 43 wins in 2011, and evidence of that are the four different players that won player of the week awards. Junior pitcher Brooks Rothschild won PSAC East Pitcher of the Week twice in March.
• On April 4, Zach Stone became the first Marauder to win the player of the week award since March of 2008. In a four-game series against Kutztown, he batted .500 (7-of-14) and drove in an incredible 10 runs—an average of 2.5 per game.
• Two weeks later, senior outfielder Corey Phelan won the award for the first time in his career. In a six-game stretch, he went 10-for-19, recorded at least one hit in five games, and had four multi-hit games. He also swiped two bases in two tries and did not strike out in 20 plate appearances.
• Derek Kline became Millersville's second pitcher to win the award on May 2. He was named NCBWA Atlantic Region Pitcher of the Week the following day.
CAN'T STRIKE 'EM OUT
• Zach Stone is among the toughest in the country to sit down on strikes. In 54 games and 177 at bats, Stone has struck out just 11 times. His 16.09 at bat per strikeout average is in the top 30 in Division II. He has not struck out more than once in any game and has struck out in back-to-back games just once. Since March 20--a span of 36 games and 115 at bats--Stone has struck out just five times. From April 17-May 11, he went 12 games without a strikeout.
• Ryan McCormick and Mike August are also tough to punch out. August has just 17 strikeouts in 189 at bats, and McCormick has fanned just 14 times in 182 at bats.
STONE A SURPRISE
• Zach Stone walked on to the Millersville squad in 2010 and redshirted. Entering 2011, he was in a battle with incoming freshman Tyler McDonald for the starting job at third base. Stone eventually won the job and has delivered one of the best rookie seasons in Millersville history. His .361 batting average is second on the team, and he leads the team and is tied for second in the PSAC in RBIs. He was one of the favorites for PSAC East Rookie of the Year, but was somehow left off the all-league teams despite hitting 66 points higher and driving in 12 more runs than the first team pick and 36 points higher and 15 more RBIs than the second team pick.
• Stone was named Daktronics All-Atlantic Region Second Team. His .945 fielding percentage was among the best in the PSAC for third basemen, and he was an ABCA/Rawlings Gold Glove First Team selection.
• He has only continued to produce in the postseason. In eight postseason games, Stone is hitting .375 with six doubles, six RBIs and a .488 on base percentage.
MAKING THE MOST OF YOUR OPPORTUNITY
• Junior catcher Mike Perez came to Millersville from Anne Arundel Community College with a reputation as a slugger. He hit .435 with 11 homers in the JUCO ranks. For much of the 2011 season, though, he was stuck behind designated hitter/first baseman Carlos Medina and catcher Ryan Chesler on the depth chart. Prior to the NCAA regional, Perez had just 11 games and eight starts to his credit. In 32 at bats, he had six hits and seven RBIs. He played four games at catcher and the rest at DH.
• In the second game of the Atlantic Regional against Seton Hill, Perez was inserted into the lineup at DH. He went 1-for-3 with a RBI double in the game, and he remained the lineup throughout the tournament. He started the next game at catcher and went 2-for-4 with two RBIs. In the title game, he made his first start of the season at first base and went 3-for-4 with three RBIs, a walk, a double, three runs and Millersville's only home run of the regional. He doubled once in the NCAA Championship opener, giving him a .412 batting average (7-for-21) with three doubles and six RBIs.
SEASON FOR THE RECORD BOOKS
• Junior pitcher Brooks Rothschild turned in one of the best season's in school history, setting some long-standing Millersville records. The team's workhorse has thrown a 86.2 innings--26.2 more than any other pitcher on the team. With his 7.1 innings against Mount Olive, he passed Jay Dimler's record for innings pitched in a season that was set in 1988.
• Rothschild led the PSAC in victories and is now 10-2. He's tied with Timm Bromirski (1999) for the most wins in a season. He's also just one complete game from tying the single season record.
• Rothschild also inserted his name into the PSAC record books earlier this season. On March 12, he pitched three innings of relief to set a new PSAC mark for scoreless innings pitched at 27.0. The previous record was set by Clarion's Brad Frazier in 1992. While it took nearly 20 years for someone to break Frazier's record, Rothschild's mark stood only one week. East Stroudsburg's Jeremy Gigliotti set a new mark at 27.2.
• Rothschild was named All-Atlantic Region Second Team by the NCBWA and Daktronics. He was an All-PSAC East First Team selection and a two-time PSAC East Pitcher of the Week.
POWER SURGE
• Much of the talk in college baseball circles this year revolved around how the new bats have affected power numbers. The bats haven't made a difference to the Marauders as they led the PSAC in home runs with 33--nine more than the No. 2 team. Jeff Heisey (7) and Derek Kline (7) were both ranked in the top five in home runs. From 2010 to 2011, Millersville's home run numbers jumped by 10.
LEFT SIDE, STRONG SIDE
• First-year Marauders Mike August and Zach Stone have shored up the left side of the infield for Millersville. The duo ranks first and second on the team in average, doubles, runs and RBIs. They've combined for .942 fielding percentage, .369 batting average and 90 RBIs. In the previous two seasons combined, Millersville's third baseman and shortstop produced a .918 fielding percentage, .250 batting average and 71 RBIs.
• Both players were named ABCA/Rawlings Atlantic Region Glove Glove First Team.
MAJOR TURNAROUND
• Fifth-year seniors Corey Phelan and Scott Stevens have witnessed an incredible turnaround during their careers. As freshmen in 2007, the duo endured a 9-37 record. Since 2008, though, the Marauders have won 113 games. As seniors, Phelan and Stevens helped the team completely reverse their freshmen year record. Millersville posted a 37-8 record in the regular season.
COMEBACK PLAYER
• If Division II handed out a Comeback Player of the Year Award, junior pitcher Mike McMonagle would surely be one of the frontrunners. McMonagle posted an uninspiring 10.88 ERA in 15 appearances as a freshman. He threw just 0.2 innings in 2009 before undergoing Tommy John Surgery. He tossed just 4.2 innings in 2010 before being shut down.
• In 2011, he has been maybe Millersville's best starter. He was named ABCA All-Atlantic Region First Team, All-PSAC East Second Team and NCBWA All-Atlantic Region Third Team. He's posted a 9-1 record and 1.79 ERA. In three postseason starts, McMonagle is 3-0 with with a 1.74 ERA in 20.2 innings pitched. He's also struck out 17 and walked just 11 while allowing opponents to hit .176.
BRIGHT FUTURE
• Millersville won't be going away anytime soon under Coach Jon Shehan. The 2011 club has just five seniors and nine position starters and pitchers are first or second year players. Of Millersville's top seven hitters, four are in their first or second years at the Division II level.
• On the mound, freshmen Tim Mayza, Tad Barton and Adam Zipko and sophomore Brian Black all made significant contributions. Mayza logged 11 starts and posted a 6-3 record with a 3.75 ERA in 60.0 innings. In two postseason starts, Mayza owns the team's best ERA at 2.08. He threw 7.0 shutout innings against Mercyhurst in the PSAC Tournament and then threw six innings innings against Mercyhurst in the regional.
• Mayza allowed more than three runs just once in 11 starts and struck out at least four in five starts. Incredibly, Mayza has allowed only five extra base hits all season. He surrendered only one home run, and since then, he has thrown 28 innings without allowing an extra base hit.
• Barton and Zipko have combined to throw 12.2 scoreless innings of relief in the postseason. Barton allowed only one hit and one walk while striking out four in his five innings of work.
WHEN IT MATTERS MOST
• Millersville ranked fourth in the PSAC in batting average but scored 27 more runs than any other team in the conference and totaled 31 more RBIs than the No. 2 team. Millersville's offense produces at a high rate with runners in scoring position, hitting .328--27 points higher than the overall team average. Mike August is 33-for-68 (.478) with runners in scoring position, and Chris Edgar is also hitting over .400 with a .410 average. The Marauders also have a knack for scoring with two outs. The team has scored 128 two-out runs this year while its opponents have managed just 54. In 10 postseason games, the Marauders are hitting .303 with two outs and 23 of their 51 RBIs have come with two outs.
QUICK STARTERS, STRONG FINISHERS
• Millersville is a fast-starting team, and when it gets the lead, it almost never surrenders it. The Marauders have outscored opponents 60-29 in the first inning and 236-76 over the first four innings. That's an average of 4.5-1.4 per game.
• When leading after the sixth inning, the Marauders are 43-1. It's only loss came in the PSAC Tournament when Mercyhurst scored two runs in the ninth and won in 12 innings. In nine inning games, the Marauders are 15-1 when leading after eight.
• The late-inning lockdown is all about the bullpen. Senior closer Zach Eckley led the PSAC in saves in each of the last two years, and in the last two seasons, he's converted 15-of-16 save opportunities. This year, he ranks third in Division II with 11 saves.
DEFENSE WINS CHAMPIONSHIPS
• Much of Millersville's success can be credited to its air-tight defense. The Marauders led Division II in fielding percentage (.979). The team went error-free in 27 games this year, and committed more than one error just eight times.
• Four Millersville players were named to the ABCA/Rawlings Atlantic Region Gold Glove First Team: Zach Stone (third base), Ryan McCormick (second base), Corey Phelan (outfield) and Brooks Rothschild (pitcher). Phelan was also named to the team in 2008.
EXTRAS FOR AUGUST
• With 20 doubles, Mike August ranks second in the PSAC in doubles and is just three short of the Millersville single-season record held by now Millersville head coach Jon Shehan.
TAKING ON THE TOP
• Millersville is no stranger to taking on nationally-ranked teams. The Marauders have played 10 games against teams that were nationally ranked in 2011. They went 6-4 in those games with two losses to North Georgia in the opening series of the season, a loss to Mercyhurst in the conference playoffs and a loss to Mount Olive in the NCAA Championship.
Highlights: Baseball v Pitt-Johnstown DH March 15, 2026
Sunday, March 15
Highlights: Baseball vs UPJ
Saturday, March 14
Highlights: Millersville Baseball vs. Concord (March 8, 2026)
Sunday, March 08
Highlights: Millersville Baseball vs Concord (March 7, 2026) [DH]
Saturday, March 07
