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Box Score 2
Millersville, Pa. - With the 2012 series against No. 19 Shippensburg fresh in their minds, the Millersville Marauders exacted some revenge Friday at Marauder Park with a 5-3 win in the opener and a thrilling, 2-1 walk-off, extra-inning win in game two.
One season ago, Shippensburg (17-11, 4-6 PSAC East) buried the Marauders hopes of repeating as PSAC East champs with a four-game series sweep. This time around, the Marauders used a pair of gutty pitching outings from
Tim Mayza and
Tad Barton and clutch hitting at its finest.
Game two went to extra innings tied at 1-1 with both teams stranding runners and missing opportunities. In the The Marauders left two on in the sixth and two in the seventh and seemed on the verge of doing it again in the eighth. But that's when senior
Jeff Heisey did what seniors do.
Evan King battled for a single on a full count to start the rally with one out. Freshman
Jeremy Musser, playing against his hometown team, brilliantly executed a textbook hit-and-run with King by slapping a single just where the shortstop had vacated to cover second base on the steal attempt. King never broke stride and moved to third easily. Ship starter Pat Kregeloh (4-3) intentionally walked
Zach Stone to load the bases and promptly registered a strike out to put the Marauder rally in serious jeopardy.
Heisey needed only one pitch to set off a wild celebration. With the bases loaded and two outs, he pushed a bunt down the third base line. By the time third baseman Cal Hogan picked the ball with his bare hand, King had slid into home and Heisey was through the bag at first base. The win improved the Marauders to 6-0 in league play for the first time 2000.
Barton (4-2) was nothing short of outstanding in his duel with Kregeloh. Barton allowed three hits and a run in the top of the first but was dominant from there. He pitched seven consecutive scoreless innings, allowing only four hits and two walks while striking out four the rest of the way. He worked out of two serious jams in the fifth and that sixth. In the fifth, he got Kregeloh to line out to center with the bases loaded. In the sixth, he left to Raiders on base with two straight outs to end the inning.
King and Musser both went 2-for-4 with a run scored. Musser scored the Marauders' only other run in the fourth. He singled and stole second base. A Ship error allowed him to scoot to third following the steal. One pitch later, he raced home on a wild pitch.
The Marauders did all of their damage early in game one, though. Stone slammed a two-run home run that plated Musser in the top of the first. Shippensburg scored three off of Mayza (7-1) in the second, but the Marauders retaliated with a King RBI single in the second.
Tyler McDonald scorched a double down the left field line, which plated
Dan Johnson and Heisey in the third. McDonald's double was his second of the game and it gave the Marauders a 5-3 lead and all the runs they needed.
Mayza allowed more than one run in a game for the first time all season. He battled command issues to hold the Raiders scoreless over the next four innings. He scattered seven hits and two walks while striking out six.
Adam Zipko entered in the seventh and scored his fifth save of the season. Tom Bush (4-2) went the distance for Shippensburg, allowing five runs on eight hits and three walks.
King finished the doubleheader with a pair of 2-for-4 efforts. Stone and McDonald both went 2-for-3 in game one.
Millersville travels to Shippensburg Saturday to complete the four-game series.
Chris Murphy and
Jim McDade are the Marauders' probable starters. Fans can follow live stats
here.