Marauders' Banner Season Comes to a Close

Wednesday, June 1

Cary, N.C.

3 p.m.

Millersville University

Mount Olive

Marauders' Banner Season Comes to a Close

6/1/2011 6:42:17 PM | Baseball

Box Score

Cary, N.C. - Millersville's magical ride of a season finally reached its destination in Cary, N.C. Wednesday. In a NCAA Division II Championship elimination game with No. 2 Mount Olive, the sixth-ranked Marauders grabbed a 2-0 lead but was overtaken and ultimately knocked out of the tournament with a 5-2 loss.

Millersville, which was picked fifth in the PSAC East preseason poll, closed its season with a 44-12 record and a .786 winning percentage--the best in school history. The team entered the NCAA Championship ranked No. 6, faced three top-three opponents and was one of six teams remaining when it was finally eliminated.

The Marauders blanked Mount Olive (47-9) in eight of the innings, but the Trojans, who also defeated Millersville 3-1 in the tournament opener, tallied a five-run sixth on a RBI single from Tyler Smith and a bases clearing double from Daniel Coffey.

For five innings, though, freshman lefty Tim Mayza kept the Trojan lineup in check. He surrendered just four hits and did not walk a batter until the sixth.

The Marauders threatened time after time early but just couldn't crack starter Jeremy Hall. Millersville tallied six of their nine hits in the first five innings and two Marauders reached on errors. But 13 runners were left on base, and three were stranded in the fourth after three singles loaded the bases with one out.

"(Stranding runners) is just a part of the game," said junior Chris Edgar. Teams leave runners on all the time. We just happened to leave on a little more than usual and more than we wanted. We just couldn't get that big hit today."

"We didn't get hits with guys in scoring position," said head coach Jon Shehan. "Ryan (McCormick) did but he was the only one. I think we put a lot of pressure on ourselves especially with two strikes. We ended up fishing and swinging at bad pitches. Our M.O. has been swinging at good pitches all year."

Shehan shook up the lineup Wednesday, and for the first time in 147 games, McCormick moved out of the leadoff spot. He also inserted freshman Mark Maiorano into left field, and in the sixth, the decision worked, and Millersville jumped in front.

Corey Phelan reached after being hit by a pitch, and Maiorano drew a walk. Phelan and Maiorano then executed a double steal to reach scoring position. McCormick delivered with a double down the right field line, giving Millersville a 2-0 edge.

The lead didn't stand for long, though. Mount Olive led off the sixth with back-to-back hits, but Mayza struck out All-American third baseman Jacob Rogers. Fellow All-American and the nation's No. 2 home run hitter Mike Knox had been fanned twice already by Mayza, but was intentionally walked, loading the bases and putting the double play in order. Smith made the Marauders pay, though, smacking a two-run single to tie the game. Another walk loaded the bases again. Adam Zipko entered in relief of Mayza, but could not escape the jam. Coffey broke the game open with a three-run double down the third base line.

Millersville tried to rally, putting one on in the seventh and two more in the eighth, but Mount Olive reliever Matt Hinkle closed the door. He pitched 3.2 scoreless innings for the win.

Millersville out-hit the Trojans 9-8, but in its last two games, the team totaled 17 hits but just three runs.

The loss still couldn't cast a shadow on the NCAA Championship experience and the Marauders' outstanding 2011 season.

(The NCAA Championship appearance) meant a lot," said McCormick. "It just helps the young guys so much. As a senior you don't really realize it until you get here. I've tried to soak it all in. For the young guys, it's something they'll never forget. Hopefully they'll be back."

"This experience definitely made me more thirsty and everyone more thirsty," said Edgar. "We want to come back next year and do even better."

Shehan, who won the ABCA Atlantic Regon Coach of the Year honor in just his fourth season, guided Millersville to its first NCAA Championship appearance since 1998 and just the second in school history. The team also won the PSAC East title for the second time in four years. Six different players were recognized with All-Atlantic Region accolades and four won Atlantic Region Gold Gloves.

With the focus on each game and each pitch, the magnitude of the team's success hasn't quite set in for Shehan.

"We've been so caught up in the process the last three months that it will probably hit me on the bus ride home or when I'm fishing next week," said Shehan. "It's been an unbelievable year. For our fifth-year seniors to win nine games as freshmen, it creates a lot of character and it paid off. It will be tough to replace that kind of character. We lost 12 times this year, and we got the point where we wanted to be: playing the best teams in the country."

Millersville loses five seniors: McCormick, Phelan, Derek Kline, Scott Stevens and Zach Eckley. 17 key contributors are expected to return.