Marauders Sweep Cobras to Open Season 12-2

Tuesday, March 19

Hartsville, SC

2 PM

Millersville University

11-2

Coker

16-11

Millersville

Coker College

Marauders Sweep Cobras to Open Season 12-2

3/19/2013 4:06:00 PM | Softball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2

Hartsville, S.C. – What a difference a year makes for the Marauder Softball pitching staff. Millersville's PSAC-best pitching held up again Tuesday in a doubleheader sweep of Coker College, bumping the team to 12-2 on the season.

Taking the circle in game one, sophomore pitcher Sarah Bertoni sought to stretch Millersville's winning streak to five games. Aided by an offense that churned out 11 hits, Bertoni went the distance in improving the Marauders to 11-2 with a 5-2 victory.

The win for Bertoni improves her record to 5-1 on the season. Last year, she didn't reach that total until her 16^th outing. But the Greater Nanticoke High School product was dealing on Tuesday, allowing nine hits and striking out three over a full seven innings for her sixth complete game of the season.

Just when it looked as though the Cobras had a comeback in them in the seventh inning, Bertoni slammed the door. After retiring the first two batters in order, Coker loaded the bases on three consecutive singles, and then scored the first earned run Bertoni had given up in 24 straight innings of work to cut the deficit to 5-2. The sophomore settled down, forcing Breanna Skipper to ground out to end the game.

Millersville's offense gave its most experienced pitcher five runs of support, opening the scoring in the first inning. Ginely Ortiz-Marrero, who scored three of the team's five runs on the day, singled through the hole between third and short as the first batter to the plate. After Danielle DiFilippo moved her over with a sacrifice bunt, Ortiz-Marrero swiped third and came in to score on Jamie Motsko's single to left field. Motsko has been scorching of late, extending her hitting streak to five games on a pair of singles.

After Coker rallied to tie the game at 1-1 in the bottom of the second inning, the Marauders retook the lead in the top of the third, tacking two more runs onto the scoreboard. Millersville took advantage of the Cobras' first error of the day when Ortiz-Marrero reached first to lead off the inning. Two batters later, Gabbie Berry punched one into right field, bringing Ortiz-Marrero home. Later in the inning, Ashley Cantiello singled home DiFilippo, who reached on a bunt single.

The Marauders put two more insurance runs on the board in the top of the seventh inning to help Bertoni's cause. Ortiz-Marrero socked a three-bagger to deep left center to lead off the inning, then scored on a wild pitch with DiFilippo at bat. After Berry was plunked, she came around to score on a fielder's choice by Cara Nance.

In the second game of the day's action, freshman pitcher Brianna Andraos continued her own brilliance in the circle, shutting out the Cobras in a complete game effort to earn a 3-0 victory. In search of tossing a perfect game, she didn't allow a baserunner until a leadoff double in the sixth inning, breaking up her shot at perfection on the afternoon.

Even though the offense gave Andraos just three runs of support, Millersville's bats woke up when they were needed most. After being shut out for the first five innings of action in game two, the Marauders broke through for two runs in the sixth and a run in the seventh to give Andraos all the cushion she needed.

Millersville struck in the sixth inning, plating two runs on a Cantiello single with the bases jammed full of Marauders. On Cantiello's poke into right field, Ortiz-Marrero and Berry came home to score. The Marauders padded their lead in the seventh, scoring again when Ortiz-Marrero shot a single up the middle to plate Jordan Sheffield.

With seven more scoreless innings, Andraos has not allowed a run, earned or unearned, in four appearances and three starts spanning a total of 25 innings this season. All three of the rookie pitcher's starts have gone as complete game shutouts, tying her with Bertoni for the team lead in the shutout category.

This season, the team has won on the backs of its pitching and Tuesday's doubleheader was no exception; Millersville pitchers have allowed a total of just 20 runs (12 earned) through the first 14 games of the season. Put that up against the 69 runs the team allowed through its first 14 games of last season and its easy to see why the Marauders have claimed victories in 12 of their first 14 games in 2013.

The 12 earned runs allowed equates to a measly team ERA of just 0.95, tops in the PSAC to this point. Also tying Millersville at the top of the PSAC are the seven shutouts that the team's pitchers have combined to register, which is even with Shippensburg's own seven, but the Raiders have played one more game than the Marauders.

The 12-2 start is Millersville's best since opening the 1994 season with the same mark after its first 14 games, while the pair of losses drop Coker to 16-12. The Marauders next take on Mount Olive Wednesday in a 3 p.m. start time and the team's pitchers better come ready again; the Trojans are 16-6 this season and are tied for the Conference Carolina lead in hitting, batting .276 as a team and are tops in on-base-percentage at a whopping .370.