MILLERSVILLE, Pa. - Eli Nabholz gave Millersville a complete game in the 6-2 game one win over West Chester, but the Golden Rams stopped Millersville's winning streak at 15 games by a 2-1 score in game two, getting a complete game effort from Jon Fisher.
Millersville is now 29-8 (16-2 PSAC East) while West Chester is 21-11 (11-7 PSAC East) after the doubleheader.
GAME ONE (MILLERSVILLE 6, WEST CHESTER 2)
• Nabholz threw his second complete game of the season and improved to 7-1 by limiting West Chester to two runs on four hits and a walk while striking out five. West Chester's runs came on Joe Zirolli's two-run homer in the fourth, which cut Millersville's lead down to one run.
• The Marauders answered right back in the bottom of the fourth.
Nick Graham singled and
Jimmy Losh doubled to start the inning.
Cole Friese pushed home a run with a squeeze. One batter later,
Ben Snyder drew a bases-loaded walk, and
Jimmy Cain extended the lead to 6-3 on an RBI groundout.
• The four-run cushion was plenty for Nabholz who cruised through the final three innings. He struck out two in a 1-2-3 fifth, faced only four batters in the sixth and three batters in the seventh with the help of a 6-4-3 double play.
• Millersville totaled nine hits with two coming from both Losh and
Kaylor Kulina. Friese drove in two runs and scored twice.
GAME TWO (WEST CHESTER 2, MILLERSVILLE 1)
• Millersville's 1-0 lead was wiped out in the sixth when the PSAC's leading hitter Jared Melone hit a two-run home run off the right field foul pole. That was all the runs West Chester would get, but it was enough. Fisher (4-3) struck out eight and limited the Marauders to five hits.
• Millersville put the tying run on base in the sixth and seventh innings. There were two on in the sixth but Fisher got
Jimmy Cain to ground into an inning-ending 5-4-3 double play.
Luke Trainer led off the seventh with a single and pinch runner
Christian Del Toro reached second on an
Eric Callahan sacrifice bunt. Fisher, however, ended the game with a long fly out and a strikeout.
• Millersville's lone run came on
Jimmy Cain's RBI double in the fourth.
• Millersville starter
Drew Miller had tossed three shutout innings with four strikeouts but was hit with a line drive in the fourth and left the game.
WHAT COACH JON SHEHAN HAD TO SAY
• "Eli started getting both breaking balls going after the home run. He hung a breaking ball on the home run and then he started located the slider and curveball. That was the difference for him."
• "It would have been nice to get five or six (innings) out of Drew. He was cruising and had both breaking balls going. His fastball velocity was good, and his change-up was in the zone. There was a little bad luck that that happened. We would have liked to get a couple more out of him."
• "Fisher threw his slider really well. Everything was down in the zone. He was effective and got our guys to chase a lot of sliders out of the zone."
• "We have plenty of arms left. I love our bullpen. We hope to get a good start out of our guy
Cordell Shannon. We have a good chance to win every time he takes the mound."
NOTES
• The game two loss was Millersville's first since an extra-inning loss to Bloomsburg on March 23.
•
Tyler Yankosky (3-1) took his first loss of the season in game two. It was the first time in his 13 appearances that he did not strikeout a batter, the first time he had allowed more than one run, and the first time allowing any runs since March 17--a span of eight appearances and 12 innings.
• Nabholz is 7-0 in his last nine starts.
• Prior to the doubleheader, the third base dugout was named the Mike Vangavree '90 Dugout in recognition of the $25,000 gift to the baseball program from Phyllis S. Mowery and the family of the late Senator Harold F. Mowery Jr. Vangavree led the nation in hitting and was named PSAC Player of the Year in 1990. He was inducted into the Millersville Universty Athletic Hall of Fame in 2003.
UP NEXT
• Millersville finishes the four-game series at West Chester on Sunday, April 21. First pitch is at 1 p.m.
