Skip To Main Content
Skip To Main Content

Millersville

bsb vs kutz

Millersville to host PSAC Tournament game for the first time Wednesday

5/10/2021 9:38:00 AM

By: Ethan Hulsey, Director of Athletic Communications

SERIES LINKS

  • Series: 24-13 (.649)
  • Series Streak: Millersville, 1
  • First Meeting: 1957 (W, 4-1)
  • Last Meeting: 2021 (W, 9-4) (Game Story)
  • Postseason Meetings: Millersville, 1-0 (2018: W, 5-4)

ABOUT THE TOURNAMENT

  • A new format brings the PSAC Tournament to the campus of Millersville University for the first time on Wednesday when the PSAC East champion Millersville Marauders host the East's No. 4 seed Shepherd for a nine-inning single elimination game. First pitch is set for 12 p.m. 
  • This year's tournament is vastly different than the previous one-site, one-weekend, double-elimination format. Now, each game in each round will be hosted on campus at the higher seed. The semifinals and championship rounds are both best-of-three series. The championship will be hosted by the highest remaining seed in the Western Division. 

 

ATTENDANCE POLICY

  • Millersville University's attendance policy for home games will remain consistent with its policy from the regular season, but will now admit visiting team fans who have registered for tickets with the visiting baseball program. Millersville University will allot 60 tickets to the visiting team, and visiting fans must register with their team. Fans who are not included on the pass list will not be granted admission. The registration process for Millersville family, alumni, Black & Gold Club members, students, staff and faculty remains the same. A registration link will be posted here 24 hours prior to game time. Fans must abide by venue health and safety guidelines at all times. 
Baseball championships aren't meant to be decided in one game, so in some sense, once you get through the first round, I really like the format for our club. We are deep and really tough to beat in a series. That said, the emotion and energy of a one game quarterfinal can make it challenging. So much can happen in a single game that is out of your control. Our goal is to control what we can and stick with the process. We love playing at home. Cooper Park has been so good to us. Wednesday should be exciting.
Jon Shehan, Millersville head coach

SCOUTING THE MARAUDERS

  • It looks like Millersville is entering the tournament playing its best baseball of the season. Since losing game one of the West Chester series on April 16, Millersville has gone 14-4 with at least three wins in each PSAC East series. The Marauders are coming off a four-game sweep of Kutztown in which they out-scored the Golden Bears 38-7. Millersville is 16-5 at Cooper Park, and in its last 12 home games, the only two losses have come in extra innings.
  • Jeff Taylor has been a big reason for the Marauders' recent run of success. The senior left-hander has won seven consecutive starts. Since March 12, Taylor has earned one-third of Millersville's total wins, posting a 1.88 ERA with three complete games over 43 innings pitched. Opponents hit just .192 against him in those starts, and he struck out 48 while giving up just 30 hits. Taylor has given up no more than one run in six of his last seven starts. The last time a team scored more than one against him was on April 12, when Shepherd scored four on 10 hits. Taylor's 2.63 ERA and eight wins rank first among all PSAC East pitchers.
  • Millersville's lineup ranks second in the PSAC in hitting (.329) and runs scored (289) and fourth on on base percentage (.423). No Marauder hitter has been as consistent as Bren Taylor. The sophomore is second in the PSAC with a .438 average and leads the league with 57 hits. The last Marauders to hit over .400 in a season were Dan Stoltzfus, Mitch Stoltzfus and Chas McCormick in 2016. Taylor's current average would rank seventh-best all-time and the second-highest in the last 30 years. David Summerfield hit .452 in 2015.
  • Tyler Wright enters the postseason riding a seven-game hitting streak, which as boosted his average to .386. His .496 OBP ranks eighth in the PSAC.
  • Cole Friese is also on a tear, hitting safely in seven of his last eight games and in 16 of his last 18. He closed the regular season by going 5-for-6 with two home runs at Kutztown. Now with 28 career homers, he passed Millersville hall of famer Ryan Brink (1997-2000) for the all-time home runs record. Friese is also tied for sixth in career hits and third in career runs scored with 190, trailing Tyler Orris for second place by eight. His 78 stole bases rank sixth all-time.

 

SCOUTING THE RAMS

  • Millersville knows first-hand how good Shepherd's offense can be. The Rams rank third in the PSAC in OBP (.438), and they've done it by drawing a league-high 213 walks, which are 34 more than any other club. They lead the league in hit by pitch with 56 in 38 games. There is also a constant threat of the long ball. The Rams lead the PSAC with 56 homers.
  • Three Rams rank in the PSAC's top 10 in hitting. Caleb Walls leads the group with a .408 average. His 23 doubles are a PSAC high. Jared Carr, a .387 hitter, is among the league's top power hitters. He ranks third with 11 homers and has also hit 12 doubles.
  • With an offense that produces 7.6 runs per game, the pitching staff doesn't need to be dominant for the team to be successful. Shepherd's staff ranks seventh in the PSAC in ERA and batting average against.
  • Shepherd may be a first-year member of the PSAC, but Coach Matt McCarty is no stranger to the postseason. Shepherd's been in the postseason each year since 2012, winning the Mountain East Tournament in 2016 and 2017 and reaching the NCAA regional three times.

PSAC TOURNAMENT HISTORY

  • Millersville is 24-19 all-time in PSAC Tournament games and is making its ninth appearance in the last 10 tournaments. The Marauders have reached the tournament 10 times under Coach Jon Shehan, who owns a 20-13 record in the tournament. Under Shehan, the Marauders reached the championship game in 2014, 2015, 2016 and 2018, and won the title in 2015. That remains Millersville's last PSAC Championship. Millersville previously won the tournament in 1998, 1975, and 1974. The 2015 win, however, is the only one in the eight-team tournament format. 
  • Millersville has won six consecutive opening games. Millersville has never before played an Eastern Division team in the first round. 
  • The 2020 PSAC Tournament was canceled because of the COVID-19 pandemic, so Millersville's last tournament appearance came in 2019. The Marauders won their first game 8-5 against Seton Hill before being eliminated with losses to Bloomsburg (7-1) and California (11-9). 

 

SERIES HISTORY

  • While Wednesday marks Shepherd's first appearance in the PSAC Tournament, the Rams and Marauders are familiar foes. The series dates back to 1957. The teams have played at least once each season since 2017 and 18 times total since 2010. Millersville holds an 11-7 edge in that stretch. 
  • Shepherd has played well at Cooper Park, winning four of nine games in Millersville since 2010. Shepherd has won three of the last four games played at Cooper Park, including both games in 2021. In those two games, Shepherd outscored Millersville 16-10, but Millersville out-hit Shepherd in both games. In both games, Shepherd totaled just 11 hits, but drew 17 walks in the doubleheader. Alex Mykut lasted just 1 1/3 innings before his injury in game one, and Millersville started closer Christian Wingard in game two. Millersville won game three of the series at Shepherd by a 9-4 score, but trailed 4-2 entering the top of the seventh. Mark Miller hit a three-run home run to give Millersville the lead, an the Marauders went on to score seven runs in the inning. Jimmy Losh hit a first-inning home run in game two before the game was called because of weather. It was never rescheduled.  
  • Losh had an outstanding three games against Shepherd, going 6-for-10 with three homers and six RBIs. 
Loading...

Upcoming Schedule

{{ moment(game.date).format('MMM D, YYYY') }} {{ game.time ? 'at ' + game.time : '' }}
{{ game.sport.title }} {{ game.location_indicator === 'A' ? 'at' : 'vs' }}
{{ game.opponent.title }}

Related Videos

Now Playing: