PSAC TOURNAMENT: MILLERSVILLE VS. GANNON

Millersville Marauders
Record: 31-17, 19-9 (PSAC East No. 2 seed)
Coach: Jon Shehan, 11th season
Roster | Schedule | Statistics

Gannon Golden Knights
Record: 31-16, 18-10 (PSAC West No. 3 seed)
Coach: Greg Coleman, 3rd season
Roster | Schedule | Statistics

Game Information
Wednesday, May 9, 3:30 p.m.
Location: Johnstown, Pa. (Point Stadium)
Live Stats | Live Audio
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PSAC Tournament History
All-Time Appearances (Last): 14 (2017)
PSAC Championships: 5 (2015, 1998, 1975, 1974, 1968 (regular season))
All-Time Record: 20-16
Shehan in the PSAC Tournament: 15-9
Series vs. Gannon: 1-0 (2013)

POSTSEASON PRIMER
• Millersville is back in the PSAC Tournament as the No. 2 seed from the PSAC Eastern Division and draw Gannon in the opening round of the double elimination tournament. Millersville missed the tournament in 2017 but has played in it in seven of the last eight seasons. The Marauders have eight appearances in Jon Shehan's 11 seasons. Prior to Shehan, Millersville had played in just six PSAC Tournaments. Millersville's last conference championship came in 2015 when now-seniors Ted Williams, Dylan Boisclair and Stephen Muscovitch were freshmen. Muscovitch started the PSAC Championship game victory against East Stroudsburg, earning a no decision after allowing three runs in 2 2/3 innings. 
• Since the 2013 PSAC Tournament, Millersville is 10-3 in tournament play, reaching the championship round in 2014, 2015 and 2016. In both runner-up finishes, Millersville was an unbeaten team but tournament rules are that the championship round is single elimination regardless of team's prior results. 
Millersville has won four consecutive opening round games and five of seven under Shehan. Millersville has also won at least two games in six of the seven tournament appearances under Shehan. The last time Millersville did not win two games was in 2012--also the last time Millersville entered the tournament not as a No. 1 seed. 

SERIES VS. GANNON
• Millersville and Gannon have met just once, and that was in the 2013 PSAC Tournament elimination round. Millersville knocked out Gannon , 6-5 on a walk-off single from Zach Stone. Chris Murphy took a no-hitter through 7 2/3 and led 5-1 in the ninth before Gannon rallied to tie it. Stone's bottom-of-the-ninth single drove in Tyler Orris, who led off the inning with a walk, stole second and moved to third on a bunt. 

ABOUT GANNON
• Gannon is making its second PSAC Tournament appearances under Coach Greg Coleman. It has been a bounce-back season for the Golden Knights after going 19-24 and missing the postseason in 2017. Gannon's first season in the PSAC was in 2009, and it has not yet won a conference championship. Gannon went 1-2 in its most recent trip to the tournament (2016, also as a No. 3 seed), losing to West Chester in the opening round, beating Shippensburg in an elimination game before falling to Mercyhurst. 
• Not only is Gannon battling for a PSAC Championship, it is also fighting for a spot in the NCAA Atlantic Regional. The Golden Knights were on the bubble at No. 7 in last week's regional rankings.
• The Golden Knights have set program records for statistics (since 2000) in runs (320), doubles (92), total bases (620) and fielding percentage (.970). Gannon does just about everything well. It ranks sixth in the PSAC in hitting with a .311 average and rank fourth in doubles. Seven regulars hit .295 or better. In the field, the Golden Knights lead the league in fielding percentage. They have also thrown out 21 base runners (third most in the PSAC). On the mound, they rank fifth in the league in ERA and fifth in batting average against. 
• Five Golden Knights were named All-PSAC East. Outfielder Kyle Cox, DH Nate Cardy and utility player Ian Steighner scored first team honors while outfielder Matt Oruch and starting pitcher David Cricks were named to the second team. Cardy is among the top hitters in the conference, ranking fourth in average (.419) and sixth in OBP (.503). 
• Cricks has been Gannon's top starter, posting a 4-1 record and 3.88 ERA in 48 2/3 innings. He has struck out 58, and most recently, he threw a two-hit shutout with 10 strikeouts against Mercyhurst. The Marauders also want to stay away from reliever Cory Hegedus, who is 3-0 with a 2.25 ERA in 15 appearances. 

AN EARNED REPUTATION
• Eli Nabholz was named the PSAC Eastern Division Pitcher of the Year Tuesday, 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. 

DEFENSE WINS
• Playing clean baseball is key for the Marauders. They have committed 24 errors in their 31 wins (.978), going error-free in 13 of those wins. But in the 17 losses, the Marauders have committed 31 errors, posting zero errors in just three of those games. Still, Millersville ranks third in the PSAC in fielding percentage (.965) and is within five points of the league leader. Millersville ranks second in the league in double plays turned (30). They also have the third-fewest stolen bases against (33) and own the fourth-best stolen base against percentage, throwing out 15 runners. 

VILLE NEEDS FRIESE
• Cole Friese is Millersville's leadoff hitter, and as he goes, so the Marauders go. Friese owns a .330 batting average (second-best on the team) in Millersville's 31 wins. He also has a .417 OBP and 14 stolen bases in those games. But in the 17 losses, Friese is hitting .290 with just four stolen bases. Friese has just four hits in Millersville's last 10 losses. 

STREAKING
• Friese has reached base in 12 consecutive games and recently had an eight-game hitting streak snapped. Manning Brookens has the team's longest active hitting streak at eight games

LOOKING FOR LUMBER
• Millersville has defied the odds in 2018. The team finished one game out of first place in the PSAC East despite losing eight one-run games and seven games in which it has led or been tied after the sixth inning. The Marauders also rank 12th in the 16-team league in batting average (.287). Only one team (Seton Hill) ranked lower than 10th in average and still made the playoffs. 
• But when Millersville scores six or more runs, they are 18-4 compared to a 13-13 record with five or fewer runs. On the flip side, the Marauders are 28-5 when holding opponents to five or fewer runs. They haven't often been able to out-score opponents as they are 3-12 when allowing six or more. 

ELI THE ACE
• Nabholz concluded the regular season ranked third in the PSAC in innings pitched, fourth in ERA among pitchers with at least 40 innings, ranked sixth in strikeouts, second in wins and tie for third in complete games. He was at his best against the PSAC East, posting a 1.93 ERA, 5-1 record and .216 batting average against in divisional play. 
• In seven 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. 

ROAD TROUBLE
• Nabholz, however, was not as successful away from Cooper Park. In four road starts, Nabholz totaled just 16 2/3 innings, posting a 5.40 ERA and 1-2 record. Control was the primary issue as he walked 11 and gave up 24 hits. In his seven starts and 46 1/3 innings pitched at home, he gave up just 29 hits and walked 14. 

POSTSEASON SHANNON
• Cordell Shannon is no stranger to the postseason spotlight. He has already made four career postseason starts, going 3-0 with his lone no-decision coming in his first postseason start vs. East Stroudsburg in 2016. Over his last three starts, Shannon has allowed just three runs on 10 hits spanning 19 2/3 innings. Shannnon has beat top competition too, pitching against Mercyhurst in the 2016 NCAA regional, Lander in the College World Series, and Shippensburg in the 2017 NCAA regional. 

HOT CORNER, HOT BAT
• Third baseman Kaylor Kulina is the reigning PSAC East Athlete of the Week and there are few hitters in the PSAC swinging a hotter bat. Kulina started slowly, hitting just .267 through his first 13 games. Since, he has pushed his average to .401--the fifth-best mark in the PSAC. Kulina has a hit in 13 of his last 16 games and has 10 multi-hit performances in that stretch. Last week, he went 10 for 18 with four multi-hit games. Kulina hit .443 with a .481 OBP against the PSAC East. 

OFF AND RUNNING
• Millersville has been aggressive on the base paths, ranking third in the PSAC with 85 steals. The next closest team totaled 65. Friese and Brookens are tied for third in the PSAC with 18 each. Millersville is 17-5 when stealing at least two bases. 

PATIENCE PAYS
• Three Marauders rank in the PSAC's top five in walks drawn. Ben Snyder leads the way with 34, Dominic Hardaway is second with 30, and Ted Williams is fifth with 28. Millersville is tied for third in the PSAC in walks. 

WALKING WILLIAMS
• Ted Williams' walk in game three of the Bloomsburg series was the 115th of his career, tying Ernest McCoy's all-time Millersville record. Williams set the single-season school record for walks in 2016 and led the PSAC in 2017.