Millersville, Pennsylvania - Leave it to a senior to deliver the clutch hit on Senior Day. With the bases loaded, a full count and two outs in the bottom of the sixth,
David Summerfield broke a 4-4 tie with a three-run triple, helping Millersville complete the series sweep of Bloomsburg. The 7-4 win in the finale was proceeded by a 5-1 win in which
Cordell Shannon tossed a four-hit complete game.
It was the first PSAC East series sweep of the season for Millersville (31-14, 14-10 PSAC East) which has now won five in row and 12 of the last 15 heading into the final week of the regular season. The four weekend victories pulled Millersville even with Lock Haven for third place in the PSAC East, two games behind Shippensburg and two clear of East Stroudsburg, which is sitting one spot out of the playoffs in fifth. The Marauders and Shippensburg meet in the final series of the regular season.
Millersville's seniors delivered on the day it was recognized for its contributions. In the opener,
Chas McCormick went 2-for-4 with a double, home run and two runs. Classmate
Dan Neff reached base twice, scored a run and drove in one.
Mitch Stoltzfus also doubled and scored and drove in one run. In game two, McCormick reached base three times and drove in a run. Neff was on base three times, stole a base, scored once and came through with a key sacrifice bunt in the sixth. Stoltzfus drove in two runs and scored one, and Summerfield finished the nightcap with four RBIs.Â
McCormick extended his hitting streak to seven and has 14 hits and 10 runs scored in that span.
GAME 1
Making only his third start at home and his first since March 24, Shannon (3-4) tossed his first complete game of the season. He issued five walks but gave up just four hits and the only run scored came on a solo home run in the fifth.
Shannon's teammates had built a 2-0 lead in the third.
Ted Williams and McCormick started the frame with a single and double, and Neff hit a sac fly, and Stoltzfus drove in a run and reached on a fielders' choice.
Jimmy Cain built the lead to 3-1 with a sacrifice fly in the fifth, and McCormick hit his second homer of the series and team-leading ninth of the season in the sixth to cap Millersville's scoring.
Shannon escaped a bases-loaded jam in the fourth with a pop up, stranded a pair of the fifth, and left a Bloomsburg runner on base in both the sixth and seventh innings. Bloomsburg left eight on base.
GAME 2
Millersville scored seven runs on just four hits, and four of the runners that scored reached base via walk. Millersville drew nine walks in the game but still needed to rally to win.
Bloomsburg's Tyler Benson--the second batter of the game--hit a two-run homer to give the visitors a 2-0 lead that would stand until the third. Millersville starter
David Manasek walked six and was taken out after 2 2/3.
Dylan Boisclair got the final out of the third, leaving two runners on base, and exited with a runner on and two outs in the fourth. Reliever
Matt Ulrich, however, hit the first two batters he faced and gave up a single in the hole at short, which scored a run and put Bloomsburg in front.
Millersville retook the lead in the bottom of the fourth, using a pair of walks and a pair of Bloomsburg errors. But Benson started the sixth with a homer, pulling Bloomsburg even at 4-4. The Marauders' rally started with a Williams walk and McCormick single. Stoltzfus walked one batter later, and with two outs, Summerfield pushed all three runners home with a long drive to right-center.
Mike Mock, who got the final two outs of the sixth despite walking two, got the final three outs on fly outs to improve to 4-1.
Four of Millersville's five pitchers combined to walk 10 and hit three. Bloomsburg put at least one runner on base in all seven innings and had at least two runners on in six of the seven. The Huskies, however, stranded 13 base runners.