Millersville, Pa. - Millersville entered the final four-game series with Mansfield knowing it needed to win to have a shot at their third consecutive PSAC East title. The Marauders took care of business on Friday, beating Mansfield by scores of 15-4 and 9-1 to improve to 36-9 and 20-6 in PSAC East play.
With Shippensburg's 7-3 win over West Chester in game two of that series, Millersville can clinch at least a share of the PSAC East title with two wins on Saturday.
The Marauders out-hit Mansfield 28-13 and stole 12 bases in 12 attempts in the doubleheader sweep. Millersville pushed its winning streak to seven, scoring at least nine runs in six of those games. The Marauders have outscored their opponents 88-12 during the streak.
Millersville hit three homers in the opening game. One came off the bat of
Dan Stoltzfus, which was his 13th of the season and pulled him to within one of Matt Knox's single season school record. Stoltzfus finished the doubleheader with five RBIs and has 68 on the season, which is just three away from Knox's record of 71.
Dan Neff also entered the record books in the opener with his record-tying fifth triple of the season.
David Summerfield went 6-for-9 with four runs in the twinbill.
Tyler Orris went 4-for-7 with six runs, a homer, two walks and three steals.
Chas McCormick drove in five, scored five times and swiped two bases.
Millersville started senior
Chris Murphy in the opener, and he improved to 10-0 despite giving up season highs in runs (4) and hits (3). The offense provided plenty of run support. A 2-2 tie was broken in the third when Millersville scored five runs on five hits. The Marauders piled on the sixth and seventh innings, scoring eight runs in the final two frames.
Tyler McDonald led off the seventh with his second homer in as many games. One batter later, Orris hit his third homer in the last two games. Stoltzfus followed with a two-run blast.
Summerfield went 4-for-5 with two runs, two RBIs and two steals. Orris totaled three hits, four runs, a walk and two steals. Stoltzfus drove in four and scored three times on three hits.
A little more than two hours after Murphy won his PSAC-best 10th game of the season, sophomore
Brandon Miller matched him. Miller breezed through six innings, allowing just three hits. one unearned run and no walks while striking out six. Mansfield's lone run came in the first, and after Mansfield picked up two singles in the second, Miller sat down the final 13 batters he faced.
Sean Stephenson added one perfect inning of relief.
McCormick singled in a run in the first and tripled in a run in the Marauders' two-run third. He picked up three-fourths of the cycle with a RBI double in the seventh. Millersville led 4-1 entering the seventh and erupted for five more runs.
The final doubleheader of Millersville's regular season starts at 1 p.m. on Saturday.
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