Columbia, Md. - Millersville senior Cordell Shannon came oh-so-close to making history in game two of Friday's doubleheader with Clarion. Shannon faced the minimum over seven innings and only a leadoff single to start Clarion's final at bat prevented a perfect game. Shannon's start helped Millersville to a 9-0 win which followed a one-sided 16-2 win in the opener.

GAME 1 RECAP
• Millersville scored early and often, striking for 12 runs in the bottom of the first inning. Millersville scored nine runs before the second out of the inning. The frame included seven hits and five walks. Eric Callahan singled in a run and Kaylor Kulina singled in two in the third. Callahan added his third RBI single in the fifth.
• Along with Callahan, Kulina also drove in three runs. Luke Trainer went 2-for-3 with four RBIs and two runs.
• Eli Nabholz picked up his first win of the season after giving up two runs on four hits over five innings. He gave up a solo homer in the first and a run on two hits in the fifth. Daniel Ross pitched a scoreless sixth and John Turner struck out the side in the seventh.

GAME 2 RECAP
• Shannon needed just 80 pitches to mow through 21 batters. He struck out seven incuding two in the sixth. He entered the seventh three outs away from the second perfect game in program history. The first was thrown by Chris Murphy in 2013--also against Clarion. Nick Fugh hit a looper over second base that was fielded but no place could be made in time. Shannon quickly recovered, however, rolling a 5-6-3 double play to cut down Clarion's lone baserunner.
• The game stood scoreless until the fifth. An error got the inning started. Kulina was plunked with the bases loaded for the first run. Cole Friese plated one more with a RBI groundout. Ben Snyder singled to left to bring in one more. Hardaway was credited with a RBI on an error and Jimmy Cain added a sac fly, capping a five-run inning. In the sixth, Kulina added a RBI double, Friese tripled in Kulina, and Snyder's sac fly scored Friese. Jimmy Losh plated Luke Trainer with a RBI groundout in the seventh.

COACH JON SHEHAN QUOTES
• "That was the Cordell Shannon that we are all used to seeing for over three years. He had all three pitches going from the first inning. Change-up was as good as I've seen it. He located the fastball in which sets up both of his off-speed pitches. He had a lot of life on his fastball and change-up tonight. The bottom was falling out of everything. That helped get a lot of swing and misses, and they hit a lot of balls into the ground. It was a lot of fun to watch him pitch."
• "Everyone was well aware of what was going on (in the seventh inning). We know how hard it is to throw a perfect game. It is quite a big let down after you give up an infield hit. It's one thing when a guy squares one up, catches one on the barrel. But it is another thing when a guy mishits a ball and there's just no play on it. That's baseball. That's what makes it so hard to throw a perfect game."
• "Nabholz threw very well in game one. He made one mistake early to their best hitter but he was much better. I'd like to see him pitch in a little bit more but overall it was an impressive performance." 
• "They gave us a couple outs the first inning that we took advantage of. I love when guys try to give themselves up to drive in a run or move a runner over and get a hit out of it. That's a beautiful thing about baseball. When you try to do the right thing for the team it ends up paying off for your individual statistics. That happened a couple of times. We stayed in the middle of the field with a runner on third and roll it up the middle for a hit."
• "I was really pleased with the way we handled the bat tonight. Guys were really aggressive with runners in scoring position and we did a really good job situationally."

NOTES
• Shannon's performance was his first career one-hitter, his nine complete game and fourth career shutout. The win was Shannon's 23rd, moving him into fifth-place in Millersville history. He also moved up to fourth in career innings pitched, now at 237.
• Millersville is now 8-1 all-time against Clarion. All nine meetings have come since 2011.

UP NEXT
• Millersville is scheduled to take on Lake Erie Saturday in Columbia, Md. Start time of the doubleheader is 4 p.m.
 

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