Florence, S.C. - Homestanding Francis Marion and Millersville entered Sunday's tilt between nationally-ranked teams separated by just one spot in the rankings. But Millersville hammered the Patriots' pitching staff for 20 hits en route to a 22-6 victory that improved the Marauders to 10-1 and extended their winning streak to eight games.
In a span of 10 days, Millersville outscored its seven opponents 97-18, scoring double-digit runs five times and topping 20 runs twice. Francis Marion, 12-3 after Sunday's loss, had not allowed more than nine runs in a game this season and had just scored 44 runs in its previous two games.
The Marauder bats were simply better on Sunday, though. A 3-3 game after three innings turned into a rout in a hurry. In the top of the fifth, a one-out throwing error allowed
Dan Stoltzfus to reach base and the floodgates opened.
John Brogan broke the tie with a RBI, and later, with two outs,
Tyler Orris doubled home three runs.
The lead continued to grow in the sixth as the Marauders pushed across nine runs on five hits, three walks and an error. Aaaron Taylor drove in Stoltzfus with a single,
Ted Williams followed with two-run knock, and with two outs, Stoltzfus' RBI single was backed up by a grand slam from
Mitch Stoltzfus--the first of his career and third homer of the season.
Marauder starter
Reid Anderson (2-0) allowed three runs on six hits over five innings, and while Francis Marion picked up a couple of runs off of the Marauder bullpen, it was hardly enough to keep pace. The Millersville bats tacked on four more runs in the ninth with RBI doubles from Williams and
Jeremy Musser and a run-scoring single from Orris.
The Stoltzfus cousins went a combined 8-for-11 with seven RBIs and six runs scored. Mitch went 4-for-5 with four RBIs and Dan went 4-for-6 with three RBIs. Five other Marauders recorded two hits, and Orris plated four runs and scored three.
Since starting the season 0-for-5,
Mitch Stoltzfus is hitting .679 (19-for-28) with three homers and 16 RBIs in eight games.
Dan Stoltzfus has had two or more hits in six of the last seven games and has hit safely in 10 of 11 games. Millersville is hitting .337 as a team while holding opponents to a .224 average, and owns a .430-.291 edge in on base percentage.
Millersville completed its tour of the Carolinas with a 10-1 record and next plays on March 11 at Cooper Park against Saint Rose.
