EAST STROUDSBURG, Pa. - The 18th-ranked Millersville baseball earned a doubleheader sweep of East Stroudsburg by scores of 2-1 and 8-2 Saturday on the road.
East Stroudsburg (28-14, 14-8 PSAC East) entered the day three games behind Millersville (33-9, 19-3 PSAC East) in the standings but Millersville knocked the Warriors into third place in the division and stayed three games ahead of Bloomsburg, which won two against Lock Haven Saturday.
GAME 1 RECAP (MILLERSVILLE 2, EAST STROUDSBURG 1)
• RBI doubles from
Ben Snyder and
Jimmy Losh in the fourth inning was all the Millersville offense needed as
Eli Nabholz (8-1) gave up one run in 4 2/3 innings, and the got the Marauders out of bases-loaded jams in the fifth and sixth.
Tyler Yankosky earned his fourth save with two shutout innings.
• After Snyder broke the scoreless tie and Losh added to Millersville's lead in the fourth, East Stroudsburg threatened to take the lead in the fifth. A two-out walk issued by reliever
Andrew Mayhew loaded the bases, but Mayhew responded by getting Brock Kauffman to ground to Losh for an inning-ending fielder's choice.
• Millersville left the bases juiced in the top of the sixth, and ESU quickly filled the bases in the bottom of the inning after a single, walk and infield single on a bunt. Yankosky entered with no outs, struck out the first two batters he faced--both on full counts. He closed the inning with a ground ball out to shortstop. Yankosky returned to the mound in the seventh, and after a leadoff single, he cut down the runner with a 6-4-3 double play. He ended the game with a strikeout.
GAME 2 RECAP
• Millersville worked its way out of some sticky situations again in game two and used a five-run seventh to turn a close game into a rout. With Millersville nursing a 3-1 lead in the fifth, ESU loaded the bases with free passes, but reliever
Bobby Dorta ended the threat with a fly out. ESU pulled within a run in the sixth and had two on with one out. Reliever
Aidan Welch got the second out via fly out, and then
Christian Del Toro, playing shortstop for the injured
Eric Callahan, ranged into the hole and fired a jumping strike to first to end the inning.
• ESU committed back-to-back errors to start Millersville's top of the seventh, and the Marauders cashed in.
Jimmy Cain singled in a run.
Luke Trainer drew a bases-loaded walk. Snyder followed with an RBI single, and Losh capped the scoring with an RBI ground out.
•
Cole Friese hit his 10th home run of the season in the fifth inning and led Millersville with two runs scored. Snyder also had two hits. Trainer walked twice, drove in a run and scored a run.
•
Drew Miller (5-1) allowed one run on four hits and two walks while striking out three in 4 1/3 innings. Wilson pitched a shutout seventh and struck out one.
WHAT COACH JON SHEHAN HAD TO SAY
• "We pitched ourselves into some trouble. Yankosky came in and he was electric. That's exactly why we put him in the bullpen. Their offense is good, so if they got some momentum going there it would have been a different day for us."
• "Eli did a great job in game one and Mayhew got us out of trouble. Mayhew got himself into trouble and then Yankosky got him out. Then in game two,
Drew Miller pitched well, got into a little bit of a jam and Dorta got him out. Dorta got into a jam and Welch came in and got us out of it. It was a great effort."
• "Winning both games is huge. You can't really think about where they are at in the standings. Once the first pitch is thrown, it doesn't really matter what the name on the jersey says. We did a great job of staying in the process today and focusing on one pitch at a time."
NOTES
• Wilson has a struck out at least one in all five appearances and has allowed just two hits.
• Nabholz and Miller have not lost a start since the opening weekend of the season. Nabholz is 8-0 in his last 10 starts while Miller is 5-0.
• Friese is just the seventh player in program history to hit 10 or more homers in a season.
UP NEXT
• Millersville and East Stroudsburg close the series at Cooper Park on Sunday. First pitch for the doubleheader is 1 p.m.
