GREENSBURG, Pa. - Cole Friese and
Kaylor Kulina both went 4-for-5 and the duo at the top of the lineup helped Millersville break a late-game tie and pull away for an 8-4 win over Le Moyne Friday afternoon.
Friese and Kulina, hitting 1-2 in the Millersville order, accounted for more than half of Millersville's 15 hits, combined for four of the team's eight runs and combined for five RBIs. And after Le Moyne rallied to tie the game at 4-4 in the top of the seventh, Friese and Kulina put the Marauders right back on top.
Friese led off the seventh with a single and promptly swiped second base. Kulina then drove him in with a single to center, breaking the tie. Then, in the eighth, Friese followed
Mark Miller's two-run triple with a RBI single, capping a three-run inning that put Le Moyne in the rearview.
"Our veteran guys--Friese and Kulina--got in there and got it done," said Millersville head coach
Jon Shehan. "Kulina was just trying to give himself up and move Friese over (in the seventh inning). It happens all the time. Be selfless and the game gives back."
Friese and Kulina now lead the team in hitting and on base percentage. Friese has scored at least one run in 13 consecutive games--a stretch in which Millersville is 11-2. Kulina has seven multi-hit performances in Millersville's 11 wins.
"Friese and Kulina have been a huge 1-2 punch at the top," said Shehan. "They have different styles but they play off of each other. Our guys feed off of them. They make it really tough to pitch to the middle of the order too."
The Marauders built a 4-0 lead on a Kulina RBI single and
Ben Snyder RBI triple in the third followed by a two-run single from Kulina in the fifth. Le Moyne, however, closed the gap, taking advantage of some Marauder miscues in the sixth and seventh innings.
With one out and a 1-2 count on Nick Spinella, a catcher's interference call was followed by a run-scoring double from Nick Nevins. Then, with two outs, a wild pitch and throwing error allowed two more runs to score. Le Moyne tied the score in the seventh when a run scored on a two-out Millersville throwing error. The tied game, however, lasted only until the bottom of the inning thanks to Friese and Kulina.
"The momentum swung big time with the catcher's interference and the wild pitch that plated two," said Shehan. "You could feel it. I was proud how we came back and attack on offense. We could have easily felt bad for ourselves."
Millersville starter
Eli Nabholz worked his longest outing of the season at 6 1/3 innings, giving up two earned runs on five hits while striking out nine and not allowing a walk. He blanked Le Moyne over the first five innings before finding some misfortune in the sixth and seventh.
"Nabholz had a light bulb outing today," said Shehan. "Last week he was solid but this wee he looked like ace. He threw four pitches in the zone and located three of them. The last couple outings, he hasn't been getting the swings and misses he's had in the past. Today was different."
The Marauder bullpen was lights out as usual.
Christian Wingard got the Marauders two outs in the seventh.
Tyler Yankosky struck out the side in the eighth, and
Aidan Welch fanned two in the ninth.
"Right now, our team is feeding off our bullpen," said Shehan. "The energy level picks up when our starter hands the ball off to the next guy. It's fun to watch these kids go out and attack hitters."
Yankosky has now struck out 17 in 10 innings and has not allowed an earned run in his last five outings spanning seven innings. Welch has struck out 13 in his last 7 2/3 innings, and has held opponents scoreless in five of six appearances.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
• Freshman
Jimmy Losh went 3-for-4 with a run, setting a carer-high in hits. Miller made his first start since Feb. 28 and went 2-for-4 with two RBIs and two runs. The hits and runs were the first of his career.
• Millersvilles's pitchers combined to strike out 15 and did not issue a single walk. The Marauders have totaled nine or more strikeouts nine times.
NOTES
• Millersville has won nine in a row and 11 of the last 12. It has scored eight or more runs in eight of the last nine games and has not allowed more than six runs in 12 straight.
•
Ben Snyder extended his hitting streak to nine games.
UP NEXT
• Millersville plays a nine-inning game at Seton Hill on Saturday before closing the weekend with games against Le Moyne and Seton Hill on Sunday. Millersville holds an 8-7 advantage in the series with Seton Hill. The two teams met in last season's PSAC Championship game and in the NCAA Atlantic Regional semifinal. Seton Hill won both.
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