Glenville, W.Va. - On a cold and rainy night, Millersville broke open a close game with a 16-run eighth inning en route to a 21-5 win over Concord.
Dominic Hardaway hit two home runs,
Kaylor Kulina drew a school record six walks and the Marauders set a school record by drawing 17 walks.
The Marauders (4-4) led 5-4 entering the bottom of the eighth. The inning started with three consecutive walks. A one-out single from
Ben Snyder got the scoring started.
Luke Trainer singled in
Cole Friese, and the floodgates opened. With two outs, 14 consecutive Marauders reached base--five on walks, eight on hits and one on an error. In one stretch of seven batters, the Marauders had seven consecutive hits including four doubles and Hardaway's second home run of the game.
The nine, one, two and three spots in Millersville's lineup had three plate appearances in the eighth inning alone. The inning saw
Ben Snyder total two singles, two RBIs and two runs in the inning.
Nick Graham had a double, single two RBIs and two runs, and
Manning Brookens drew two walks, scored twice and singled.
It was only a half an inning earlier that Concord trailed by one and had the bases loaded with two outs. Marauder reliever
Andrew Mayhew got out of the jam by striking out Concord's clean-up hitter.
Concord also got on the board first. In the top of the first, the Mountain Lions scored two runs on four singles against Millersville starter
Eli Nabholz. Hardaway quickly erased the deficit, though. In the bottom of the inning he hit a three-run homer. Millersville never relinquished the lead.
Kulina went 0-for-1 in official at bats but reached base in all seven plate appearances. He drew walks in each of his first five trips to the plate, and his six total walks came within one of the NCAA Division II single game record of seven, which has only been accomplished twice--first by UT Martin's Ricky Harris in 1977 and then by Armstrong State's Dave Bone in 1989.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
• Millersville drew more walks (17) than it had hits (15). Eleven of those hits came off of one Concord reliever in the eighth. The 17 walks are a school record and one shy of the PSAC record, which was set by California (Pa.) in 2016.
• Nabholz (2-1) went five innings, allowing four runs on seven hits and two walks while striking out three.
Aidan Welch threw a shutout inning.
Tyler Yankosky provided 1 2/3 innings of shutout relief work.
Matt Stevenson struck out two without giving up a hit in the ninth.
• Hardaway went 3-for-5 with two homers, a double, four runs scored and a career-high five RBIs. It was his first career two-homer game.
FROM COACH JON SHEHAN
• "We battled tonight. It was in adverse conditions but we found a way to win. I'm soaked and cold. They were soaked and cold. The kids battled. I was really proud of the way they handled themselves. Mental toughness won the ballgame."
NOTES
• The game was Concord's season opener. The Mountain Lions went 26-23 in 2018.
• Millersville improved to 3-0 all-time against Concord. The two previous meetings came in the NCAA Atlantic Regional.
UP NEXT
• Thursday's game did not end until after 11 p.m. The Marauders are back on the field Friday morning at 9:30 a.m., against Fairmont State.
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