NCAA ATLANTIC REGIONAL: MILLERSVILLE VS. CHARLESTON

Millersville Marauders
Record: 34-18 (No. 2 seed)
Coach: Jon Shehan, 11th season
Roster | Schedule | Statistics

Charleston Golden Eagles
Record: 34-21 (No. 7 seed)
Coach: Andrew Wright, 3rd season
Roster | Schedule | Statistics

Game Information
Thursday, May 17, 3 p.m.
Location: West Lawn, Pa. (Owls Field)
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NCAA Atlantic Regional History
All-Time Appearances (Last): 9 (2017)
Regional Championships: 3 (1998, 2011, 2016)
All-Time NCAA Tournament Record: 26-17
Shehan in the NCAA Regional: 16-9
Series vs. Charleston: 2-1 (most recent 2017)
Shehan vs. Charleston: 1-1

NCAA ATLANTIC REGIONAL PRIMER
• Millersville is making its ninth NCAA Atlantic Regional appearance, seven of which have come under the direction of Jon Shehan, and 2018 marks the sixth consecutive regional appearance. Among Atlantic Region programs, that active streak is matched only by Seton HIll's nine.
• Millersville, the host of the tournament, also served as host in 2011 and 2016. Millersville won the regional both times. It is also the third time in five years that the regional is being held at Owls Field. Millersville reached the championship round in both 2014 and 2016, going 6-2 in those tournaments. Millersville has won at least one game in each of its previous eight regional appearances and has won two or more in seven of eight. 
• Millersville has reached the regional championship round four times since 2011. 
• Charleston is making its first-ever NCAA Atlantic Regional appearance, but it isn't the first for Coach Andrew Wright, who led Concord to a regional berth in both 2011 and 2013. Millersville and Wright's Concord clubs met in the opening game of both of those regionals with Millersville winning 3-1 in 2011 and 5-4 (with future MLB pitcher Tim Mayza on the mound) in 2013. 
• Millersville has matched up against Mountain East (or the former WVIAC) members in regional play six times and has never lost. Millersville is also 7-1 all-time in opening round games. 

SERIES VS. CHARLESTON
• The first meeting between the programs came on March 7, 2005, which Millersville won, 7-6. Since then, Millersville and Charleston have played just twice, meeting in a doubleheader in Williamston, N.C. on Feb. 17, 2017. Charleston won the first game 8-3 behind 6 2/3 innings from Adam Jafine. Jafine allowed three runs while striking out six. Cordell Shannon took the loss for Millersville, giving up six runs on eight hits and three walks over 5 1/3 innings. Stephen Muscovitch (2/3) and Drew Miller (1) also made appearances and gave up runs. The Marauders won game two 5-3 behind Eli Nabholz's complete game. Nabholz struck out 12 and gave up six hits and two earned runs. Jimmy Cain had three hits including a home run and a double and two RBIs. 

ABOUT CHARLESTON
• Charleston qualified for the regional by winning the Mountain East Conference Tournament. The Golden Eagles went 4-1 in the tournament, beating Shepherd twice. Charleston totaled double-digit hits in every game of the tournament and scored at least six runs in four of the five games. The pitching staff gave up at least eight hits in all five games and five or more runs four times. 
• Charleston entered the championship round unbeaten but was defeated 24-2 by Shepherd. Charleston bounced back with a 10-7 win for the title. Steven Davis was voted the tournament MVP. Austin Hathaway, Austin Henrich and Brice Arrington were voted to the all-tournament team. Davis collected 10 hits and scored five runs in the tournament. 
• A total of eight Golden Eagles were named All-MEC with Jafine, Jack Brunetti and Colby Johnson earning first team recognition. 
• The Golden Eagles boast a .405 team OBP with five players drawing 17 or more walks. Seven regulars hit .308 or better and six have at least nine doubles. No one in the lineup has more than 39 RBIs but seven have at least 23. 
• Jafine leads the team with 14 starts, and is the only pitcher in the rotation more than nine starts. He has struck out 68 in 62 innings and owns a team-best 7-2 record, but also owns a 5.08 ERA. Of the five pitchers with at least six starts, all of them have a batting average against of .255 or higher. 

SHUT 'EM DOWN
• Millersville held its opponent to two or fewer runs in two of its three wins at the PSAC Tournament. Over the last 18 games, Millersville has allowed more than five runs just three times, and are 13-5 in that stretch. In recent history, keeping the games low-scoring is a Millersville trademark in the postseason. In the six regional appearances under the direction of Shehan, Millersville held teams to fewer than five runs in 16 of 24 games. Millersville is 13-3 in those games. 

NEED AN EARLY LEAD
• Getting out to a quick start is crucial to Millersville's success. The Marauders have outscored opponents 56-17 in the first inning of games this season and 31-10 when scoring first. However, they are just 3-8 when the opponent takes the lead first. Millersville has also outscored its opponent in each of the first six innings, but has been outscored 37-24 seventh innings, 18-10 in eighth innings and 22-7 in ninth innings. 

AN EARNED REPUTATION
• Eli Nabholz was named the PSAC Eastern Division Pitcher of the Year, giving Millersville the division's top pitcher in five of the last six seasons. Chris Murphy won three of those awards from 2013-15 and was followed by Brandon Miller in 2016. Nabholz was also named All-PSAC East First Team, giving Millersville 18 All-PSAC East starting pitchers since 2010. That total ranks second only to Mercyhurst among all PSAC teams. Nabholz was a second team selection in 2017. He is one of just nine Millersville starting pitchers all-time with two All-PSAC East honors. Six of them--Nabholz, Brandon Miller, Jim McDade, Chris Murphy, Tad Barton and Brooks Rothschild--played under the watch of Jon Shehan. 
• With Nabholz and Cordell Shannon both earning All-Atlantic Region honors in 2018, Millersville has produced 12 all-region starting pitchers since 2011. 

ELI THE ACE
• Nabholz enters the regional with a 2.34 ERA, which is third among all PSAC pitchers with at least eight starts. Nabholz also ranks sixth in strikeouts and is tied for second in wins and complete games.
• Nabholz' 93 strikeouts in 2017 ranks third on the Millersville single-season list, and his 77 in 2018 already ranks eighth. He joins Brand Miller and Chris Murphy as the only Marauders with two entries in that top-10 list. 
• Nabholz, however, has yet to register a decision in his two career postseason starts. 
• In eight starts against PSAC teams, Nabholz threw five complete games and gave up more than two earned runs just once. He had a stretch of 21 consecutive scoreless innings against Mansfield, West Chester and East Stroudsburg. That streak was the fourth-longest in program history and the ninth-longest in PSAC history. Nabholz was also a four-time PSAC East Pitcher of the Week and two-time NCBWA Atlantic Region Pitcher of the Week. 

POSTSEASON SHANNON
• Cordell Shannon is no stranger to the postseason spotlight. He has already made five career postseason starts, going 4-0 with his lone no-decision coming in his first postseason start vs. East Stroudsburg in 2016. Over his last four starts, Shannon has allowed just four runs (three earned) on 13 hits spanning 27 2/3 innings. Shannnon has beat top competition too, pitching against Mercyhurst in the 2016 NCAA regional, Lander in the College World Series, Shippensburg in the 2017 NCAA regional and the PSAC's No. 1-run scoring lineup in Bloomsburg in the 2018 PSAC Tournament. 

TURNING POINT
• Through his first five starts of 2018, Shannon owned a 4.56 ERA and 1-1 record, striking out just 18 while walking 12 in 23 2/3 innings. But his start against Seton Hill on March 17 turned around his season. Over his last eight starts, Shannon is 7-1 with a team-best 2.03 ERA. Opponents have hit just .230 against him, he's allowed just seven extra-base hits (one home run) while striking out 45 and walking 16 in 48 2/3 innings. 

DEFENSE WINS
• Playing clean baseball is key for the Marauders. They have committed 25 errors in their 34 wins (.977), going error-free in 17 of those wins. The Marauders played error-free defense in two of three PSAC Tournament wins. But in the 18 losses, the Marauders have committed 32 errors, posting zero errors in just two of those games. Still, Millersville ranks second in the PSAC in fielding percentage (.967) and is within two points of the league leader. Millersville is tied for the league-lead in the in double plays turned (40), and turned a double play 10 times in the PSAC Tournament. 

STREAKING
• Cole Friese has reached base in 16 consecutive games and is now within two of his previous career best. Jimmy Cain has also reached base in 13 consecutive games. Ted Williams, with a hit in six-consecutive games, owns the team's longest hitting streak entering the regional. 

THE MAGIC NUMBER
• When the Marauders score six or more runs, they are 21-4 compared to a 13-14 record with five or fewer runs. On the flip side, the Marauders are 30-6 when holding opponents to five or fewer runs. They haven't often been able to out-score opponents as they are 4-12 when allowing six or more. 

OFF AND RUNNING
• Millersville has been aggressive on the base paths, ranking third in the PSAC with 88 steals. The next closest team totaled 65. Cole Friese and Manning Brookens rank third and fourth respectively. Millersville is 17-5 when stealing at least two bases. 

PATIENCE PAYS
• Three Marauders rank in the PSAC's top four in walks drawn. Ben Snyder leads the way with 35, Ted Williams is second with 31, and Dominic Hardaway is fourth with 30. As a team, Millersville ranks third in the PSAC in walks drawn. Williams has ranked in the top three in the league in walks for three consecutive seasons and recently set Millersville's career walks record, which had stood since 1988. Williams needs four more walks this season to be the only Marauder with three entries in the single-season top 10. 

SITUATIONAL HITTING
• Ben Snyder and Jimmy Cain enter the regional tied for the PSAC lead for sacrifice flies with seven apiece. They have both advanced runners with an out 19 times (a team lead). With a runner on third base and less than two outs, Cain has drive in the run 16 times in 23 opportunities for a .696 success rate. Snyder has brought in the run 19 times in 26 chances (.731). Snyder is also the team-leader with runners in scoring position, owning a .382 average in that situation.