ABOUT THE MARAUDERS
• Millersville baseball enters the final weekend of the regular season with a two-game lead in the PSAC East standings and the head-to-head tiebreaker with Bloomsburg. The Marauders can clinch their seventh PSAC East title since 2008, 12th all-time and first since 2016 on Friday. It would be the Marauders' sixth PSAC East title in the last nine years. The Marauders can win the PSAC East with two wins over Lock Haven, with two Bloomsburg losses at West Chester or with a win and Bloomsburg loss.
• For the first time this season, Millersville is the top-ranked PSAC team in the Collegiate Baseball poll. The Marauders jumped a spot this week to No. 17, leapfrogging Mercyhurst, which dropped to No. 18. Bloomsburg cracked the rankings at No. 30 and Gannon and California are both receiving votes. Millersville moved up three spots in the NCBWA poll to No. 6. That is Millersville's highest ranking in any regular season poll since it was No. 1 in May of 2016.
• More important that any poll for the Marauders is the official NCAA Atlantic Region ranking, which will determine the field for the NCAA Tournament on May 12. Millersville stayed No. 2 in that ranking this week, trailing Mercyhurst but ahead of Bloomsburg.
• Millersville recently navigated its most difficult portion of the schedule with 10 consecutive games against teams ranked the NCAA regional rankings. The Marauders went 6-4 in that stretch with two wins over West Chester (No. 7 in the region), three wins over East Stroudsburg (No. 6 in the region) and one win over Shepherd (No. 8 in the region) with a loss in a mid-week, non-conference game to Wilmington (No. 3 in the East Region).
• Millersville continues to lead the PSAC in hitting with a .307 team average and 348 runs scored--46 more than second-place Seton Hill. Millersville's 4.27 team ERA is fifth in the conference and the .239 batting average against is third. Millersville's .970 fielding percentage is second-best in the PSAC.
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Eli Nabholz is making a bid to win a second consecutive PSAC East Pitcher of the Year award. He has been outstanding against the division, posting a 5-0 record with two complete games in six starts. He owns a 1.82 ERA and .216 against PSAC East opponents. Overall, Nabholz ranks ninth in the PSAC in ERA (2.92), first in wins (8), first in innings pitched (61 2/3) and 10th in strikeouts (61). Millersville has won 10 consecutive games in which Nabholz has started.
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Jimmy Cain owns a .343 batting average against the PSAC East and that is after starting divisional play 0-for-7. He has at least one hit in 16 of the last 19 PSAC East games. Cain has boosted his batting average 98 points in the 21 games since March 24.
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Cole Friese is the PSAC leader in hits (66) and runs (55) while also ranking fourth in steals (24) and home runs (10) and sixth in doubles (13). Friese is the only player in the league ranked in the top 10 in both home runs and steals. He is already tied for the fifth-most home runs hit in a single season at Millersville and is one away from cracking the top 10 in steals. Friese is the only player in program history with 10 home runs and 20 stolen bases in the same season. He could join
Chas McCormick as the only Marauders to lead a team in both homers and steals.
SERIES HISTORY
Series vs. LHU (since 1957): 38-23
Series Streak: Millersville, 1
Last Meeting: 2018 (W, 4-0)
Last Season Series: 3-1
Last 10 Meetings: 7-3
Jon Shehan vs. LHU: 18-4
• Millersville won three of four against Lock Haven in 2018 and the teams split the 2017 series. Prior to 2017, Millersville had won 15 consecutive meetings. On April 28, 2018, Lock Haven scored four in the top of the seventh to beat Millersville 8-4 for its first-ever win at Cooper Park. Last season against Lock Haven,
Drew Miller throw six shutout innings for a win in game four.
Cordell Shannon allowed one unearned run in six innings in game two. Nabholz earned the win in the series opener despite giving up five earned runs on 10 hits in 4 1/3 innings. Nabholz is 2-0 and Shannon is 2-1 against Lock Haven.
SCOUTING LOCK HAVEN
• Lock Haven went 11-2 from April 6-April 20 but has since dropped six in a row. Lock Haven was swept by Bloomsburg last weekend and was outscored 34-12 in the process.
• Liam McArthur ranks second in the PSAC with a .419 average and league-leading .527 on base percentage. No other Bald Eagle is hitting .300. Lock Haven ranks 13th in the PSAC in team batting average (.267).
• Starting pitcher Jesse Slinger has produced a complete game in half of his 10 starts. he owns a 2-5 record, 4.47 ERA and .248 batting average against. Scott Leitholf leads the team in strikeouts with 56 in 56 2/3 innings.
