Pembroke, N.C. - Junior
Brandon Miller carried a no-hit bid into the fifth inning and pitched eight shutout innings to help the No. 14-ranked Millersville baseball team to a 7-0 win at UNC Pembroke Thursday evening.
Miller boosted his record to 3-0 in three starts and has yet to surrender an earned run through 19.2 innings. Dating back to 2015, Miller has thrown 22 consecutive innings without allowing an earned run. Thursday's start was the second time this season he no-hit his opponent through at least four innings. He has walked just one batter and allowed six hits while striking out 20.
Now 7-1, the Marauders have won five in a row and are off to the best mark through eight games since 2001. Millersville finished with 12 hits--its seventh game with at least nine.
UNC Pembroke used seven pitchers with only relievers Trace Hagler and Justin White throwing more than one. Miller, meanwhile, retired the first 14 batters he faced and gave up a two-out single in the bottom of the fifth. He gave up one more single in the sixth and hit a batter, allowing UNC Pembroke to put a runner on the third. Miller, however, escaped the inning with his shutout intact. He handed the ball to freshman
Mike Mock in the ninth, and Mock fanned two of the four batters he faced.
Miller received plenty of run support, with the Marauders scoring in each of the first three innings.
Chas McCormick reached base four times, twice via error, once with a single, and he swatted a two-run home run in the fifth inning.
Dan Stoltzfus and
Tyler Orris went 2-for-4 with two runs and two steals, and
Aaron Taylor entered the seventh for an injured
Dan Neff and doubled in a run in the ninth for his first career hit and RBI.
Orris recorded the 213th hit of his career in his first at bat and soon scored his 145th career run when Stoltzfus singled him home. Millersville added a pair of unearned runs in the the second when
John Brogan and
Jeremy Musser both came home on a two-out fielding error. McCormick's two-run blast came in the fifth, and Taylor drove in Orris in the ninth for the team's seventh run of the game.
Orris moved into 41st place in PSAC history in career hits, trailing Shippensburg's Tyler Reddick (2006-09) by one. He also ranks fourth in Millersville history, recently surpassing Mike Wokulich and trails hall of famer Ryan Brink by six. His two runs scored moved him within two of Ryan McCormick for fourth place in Millersville history. His two stolen bases pushed his career total to 77, putting him 11th on the PSAC list and within 20 of the Millersville record. Orris also moved past Kutztown's Mike Kacelowicz (2007-10) for third in PSAC history in career assists with 523. He is trails Torrey Bomberger by 19 for first at Millersville.
The Marauders travel to Florence, S.C., where they will play Saint Rose on Friday and Saturday and Francis Marion on Sunday.
