ABOUT THE MARAUDERS
• The 15th-ranked Millersville baseball team takes a 14-game winning streak into its toughest stretch of the regular season. Starting with a doubleheader at West Chester on Friday, Millersville's next nine games are against three teams with a combined 68-32 (.680) record. The Marauders have swept three consecutive PSAC East series--a first in program history. Millersville has also never before started PSAC East play by winning 15 of the first 16 games. Millersville's No. 15 ranking in the Collegiate Baseball poll and No. 10 ranking in the NCBWA poll are its highest rankings of the 2019 regular season.
• Millersville boasts the PSAC's most prolific offense with a .319 team batting average while scoring an average of 8.4 runs per game--a full run per game more than any other team in the PSAC. Millersville also leads the PSAC in doubles while ranking second in home runs (37), slugging percentage (.500) and on base percentage (.413). The 2016 club, which set the program record for runs scored in a season, averaged 8.5 per game. The only other Millersville team to post a .500 slugging percentage in a season was the 1998 club. Both the 2016 and 1998 teams won a NCAA regional title.
• Four of the PSAC's top seven run producers are Marauders.
Dominic Hardaway (37) ranks second,
Ben Snyder (35) ranks fourth and
Luke Trainer (34) and
Eric Callahan (34) are tied for sixth.
Cole Friese (42) and
Ben Snyder (41) are ranked 1-2 in runs scored. Friese also leads the PSAC in hits (56) and is third in steals (20), fourth in triples (3) and is tied for fourth home runs (8) with Hardaway. Friese currently owns a .406 batting average. Only 20 hitters in program history have hit .400 in a season, and Friese, with 138 at bats, already has more at bats than half of those 20 hitters. Only 11 Marauders have hit over .400 while playing 40 or more games.
• In Millersville's current 14-game winning streak, the team has out-hit opponents .347-.220 and has outscored opponents 116-30. The Marauders have also hit 18 homers to the opponents' one and has stolen 28 bases while allowing just four.
• In Millersville's 16 PSAC East games, Friese has hit .450 with four homers, eight extra-base hits and 12 steals.
Eric Callahan has hit .392 with four homers, a team-leading 21 RBIs and seven steals.
•
Jimmy Cain was named the PSAC East Athlete of the Week for the first time in his career on Monday. He went 7-for-12 with eight runs and six RBIs in the Mansfield series. Cain's average dipped to .174 on March 24 and he has elevated it to .293 over the last 11 games. He is on a seven-game hitting streak and has a hit in 10 of the last 11 games.
• Millersville isn't just getting by with its offense. The pitching staff ranks fourth in the league with a 4.16 ERA and its 303 strikeouts (8.7 per game) lead the PSAC. The program record for strikeouts in a season was set in 2016 at 406 with an average of 6.8 per game. Millersville's .236 batting average against is also third-best in the PSAC.
•
Cordell Shannon, the projected game three starter, has won eight consecutive starts, boosting his career win total to 31--just two behind record holder Chris Murphy. He leads the PSAC in wins. At Mansfield last week, Shannon passed Murphy and Matt Wagner to become Millersville's career strikeout leader with 236. Shannon is second all-time in innings pitched with 278 2/3 innings. He will become just the second pitcher in program history with 50 career starts on Saturday and needs three to tie Jim McDade's (52) program record.
•
Eli Nabholz is not far behind Shannon in career strikeouts with 231. Since his first start of the season on opening day, Nabholz is 6-0 with a 2.44 ERA and .238 batting average against in 44 1/3 innings.
Drew Miller has had similar success since his first start, going 4-0 with a 2.56 ERA and .204 batting average against in his last eight starts.
SERIES HISTORY
Series vs. West Chester (since 1957): 49-87
Series Streak: Millersville, 1
Last Meeting: 2018 (W, 7-6)
Last Season Series: 2-3
Last 10 Meetings: 3-7
Jon Shehan vs. West Chester: 22-25
• In 2018, West Chester won three of four regular season meetings, but Millersville spoiled the Golden Rams' season with a 7-6 win in the NCAA Atlantic Regional.
Eric Callahan went 3-for-4 and
Ben Snyder and
Jimmy Cain both had two hits in that elimination game.
Drew Miller gave up two earned runs (four total) on five hits in seven innings.
Aidan Welch gave up two in one inning, and
Bobby Dorta earned the save with a shutout ninth. West Chester's Mike Cipolla took the loss with five innings pitched, and Zach Rice allowed two runs with five strikeouts in four innings of relief.
• Four of the five meetings in 2018 were decided by two runs or fewer. While West Chester has won six of the last eight match-ups, Millersville won the regular season series in 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2016 while splitting the series in 2014 and 2015. Since 2009, Millersville holds a slight 22-21 advantage over the Golden Rams including a 21-18 edge in regular season games. West Chester won the first 11 games against
Jon Shehan, but since, he is 22-14 against West Chester.
SCOUTING WEST CHESTER
• West Chester opened PSAC East play with 7-1 record, winning seven in a row over Mansfield and Lock Haven. West Chester then lost three of four to East Stroudsburg (two losses by one run) and split with Shippensburg. West Chester scored 46 runs in its last five games.
• Reigning PSAC East Athlete of the Year and first team All-American Jared Melone led the country with a .469 batting average last season and he hasn't missed a beat in 2019. He is second in the PSAC with a .437 average and .520 OBP. Kyle Feaster had just four at bats in 15 games last season but is hitting .427 with a team-leading .522 OBP.
• David Mervis, who transferred to West Chester after stints at VCU and CCBC Catonsville, is 3-0 with a 2.25 ERA in seven starts covering 36 innings. Zach Rice is 4-1 with a 3.05 ERA with three complete games in seven starts. Teams are hitting just .232 against him but he has walked 22 compared to 28 strikeouts.
