Cary, North Carolina - One bounce of the ball was all it took for Millersville to score the lone run of Saturday's NCAA Division II Championship Tournament game against Angelo State. Both pitching staffs and defenses turned in near-flawless performances but the deciding run of a 1-0 final scored on an Angelo State wild pitch in the seventh.
 
Jeremy Musser started a one-out rally in the seventh with a single and a stolen base. He moved up to third on a ground out from David Summerfield. Ted Williams stepped in with the deciding run on third, and after falling behind 0-2, he took four consecutive pitchers. The fourth from Angel o State starter Zach Bryce skipped past his catcher, almost into the Millersville dugout. Musser sprinted home and crossed without a slide.

"We knew it was going to be a close game with the great pitching by both teams," said Musser. "We squeezed one by like we needed to do."
 
Millersville mustered just four hits, but ace Brandon Miller, an All-America First Team selection and Brett Tomko Award finalist, was up for the challenge. Miller went the distance for the complete game shutout, scattering five hits and a walk while striking out eight. In his two NCAA Tournament starts this season, Miller has allowed one run while striking out 19 over 18 innings.

"It has been some great pitching from Brandon Miller over the last two weeks," said Millersville Head Coach Jon Shehan. "He did it again today. He beat a very, very good arm. Zak did an outstanding job. He was one of the top three arms we saw all year. He shut down our offense and that's been hard to do. Miller did an outstanding job today."
 
In a game with no margin for error, Miller was masterful with runners on base and the Marauder defense made several key plays behind him. Angelo State put a runner on in six of the nine innings and started the second and third innings with doubles. His stickiest situation came in the fifth, when Angelo State led off with back-to-back singles.  Angelo State's Tyler Coolbaugh put down a sacrifice bunt, catcher Mitch Stoltzfus fired a strike to shortstop Tyler Orris, who out-ran the lead runner to third base. Miller then got a ground out, and with runners on second and third, he fanned leadoff hitter Elias Aguirre.

Angelo State again threatened in the ninth. The leadoff batter reached on a fielding error, but was promptly cut down on a force play at second. Miller closed the game himself with back-to-back punch outs.

"We've got a bona fide prospect throwing for us," said Shehan. "Not just stuff-wise, but from a mentality aspect. It's a huge deal to be able to run him out there each week. We know what we are going to get out of him. He's going to go out and compete.

"These guys want it," said Shehan. "They've been a part of six championship games. They've been in a lot of tough situations and big games. I think that's one of the reasons they can perform in those situations."

Chas McCormick singled in the top of the first inning, but Millersville did not record another hit until Musser's single in the seventh. Orris and Summerfield singled late as well. Angelo State reliever Graylon Brown, also a Brett Tomko Award finalist, struck out four in 2 1/3 innings.
 
Millersville moves forward in the winners' bracket and plays the winner of the Southern Indiana-Cal Poly Pomona match-up on Monday at 7 p.m.