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Millersville

2021 Shepherd vs. Millersville PSAC Tournament
Mark Palczewski

PSAC Semifinal series set for Sunday at Cooper Park

5/13/2021 10:47:00 AM

By: Ethan Hulsey, Director of Athletic Communications

SERIES LINKS

  • Series: 109-69 (since 1957)
  • Series Streak: Millersville, 2
  • First Meeting: 1959 (W, 8-7)
  • Last Meeting: 2021 (W, 16-8) (Game Story)
  • Postseason Meetings: Millersville, 1-0 (2018: W, 5-4)

ABOUT THE GAMES

  • Millersville opened the PSAC Tournament Wednesday with an 11-4 win over Shepherd and now hosts Bloomsburg for a best of three series. The teams play two nine-inning games on Sunday, May 16, and if a third game is necessary, it will be played Monday at Cooper Park. The winner of the series advances to the PSAC Championship series. That series will be played at either Mercyhurst or Seton Hill. 
  • After Jeff Taylor's sterling outing in the tournament opener, Millersville turns to freshman Conor Cook (4-0, 2.76 ERA) and Paul Wilson (5-1, 3.94 ERA) on Sunday. 

 

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.
(Bloomsburg) has a veteran lineup. They've got some guys who can swing it. They are going to bring a ton of energy. But we have to worry about ourselves. We have to get a couple of quality outings from (Conor) Cook and Paul Wilson, and the bullpen is throwing better and better, and we have to take care of the baseball.
Jon Shehan, Millersville head coach

SCOUTING THE MARAUDERS

  • Millersville has won five consecutive games, outscoring the opponent 49-11 in those games. Since April 12, Millersville is 18-5 and 10-1 at home. The Marauders have scored 10 or more runs eight times in that stretch and have limited opponents to four runs or fewer in 18 of 23 games. Four of Millersville's five losses have come by two runs or fewer. Millersville has out-hit its opponents .337 to .224 over those 23 games. 
  • Conor Cook has been a revelation since entering the starting rotation. His first three appearances of the season came out of the bullpen, and he allowed five total runs in 3 2/3 innings. But in his four starts, he's thrown three complete games, shutting out both Shippensburg (April 13) and Bloomsburg (April 23). He is 4-0 with a 1.75 ERA as a starter and is coming off an outing against Kutztown in which he struck out a career-high 12 batters. 
  • Paul Wilson has also found a groove late in the season, going 3-0 with a 3.12 ERA over his last four starters. Wilson threw four shutout innings in his last start. He has pitched past the fifth inning once in his eight appearances. 
  • Christian Wingard earned his fourth save the season in the opening round of the PSAC Tournament after throwing two shutout innings. He has allowed just one hit and one walk while totaling nine strikeouts in his last four appearances. 
  • Millersville's lineup ranks second in the PSAC in hitting (.329) and runs scored (302) and fourth on on base percentage (.422). Bren Taylor leads the team and ranking second in the PSAC in hitting at .432. 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 boosted his average to .387 after going 2-for-5 against Shepherd. He's had a hit in eight-straight games. 
  • Nick Mancuso provided some key offensive production in the tournament opener, going 3-for-5 with a double, triple, three RBIs and two runs. Mancuso entered that game with one hit in his previous four games and had just one RBI in his previous nine games. 

 

SCOUTING THE HUSKIES

  • Bloomsburg is in the PSAC Tournament for the third consecutive season, and it is the defending PSAC champ, having won the tournament in 2019. Bloomsburg was off to a 9-1 start when the COVID-19 pandemic shut down the 2020 season. 
  • The Huskies reached the semifinal series after a 5-2 win over No. 2 seed West Chester Wednesday. Jared Marshman (4-1) worked into the ninth inning and allowed two runs on eight hits. It was the longest outing of his career. JJ Spehrley earned his first collegiate save as well. Kyle OFier and Jared Burcin combined for five of the team's eight hits and drove in three of the team's five runs. 
  • Bloomsburg suffered a tough blow in April when it lost veteran pitchers Nick Stoner and Chad Cooperman to injuries. Cooperman was an All-PSAC East performer in 2019, and Stoner pitched the team to postseason wins in 2019 as well. Without them, Bloomsburg pieced together a rotation that includes six pitchers with at least one start. Spehrley leads the team in starts (8) and is second to Marshman in innings (32 2/3). Michael Standen has had the best statistical season, posting a team-low 3.91 ERA in 25 1/3 innings pitched. He started an April 23 game against Millersville and allowed four runs on three walks and seven hits in three innings. As a team, Bloomsburg ranks 12th in the league in ERA and opponent batting average. 
  • Bloomsburg has a quality lineup that ranks fifth in the league with a .298 average and fifth in home runs hit with 46. OFier is tied for sixth in the PSAC in RBIs with 37. His eight homers are a team high. Carter Chasanov leads the team in hitting with a .366 average, and Jared Burcin is the team leader in OBP with a .458 mark. 

PSAC TOURNAMENT HISTORY

  • Millersville is 25-19 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 21-13 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.
  • 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

  • Under the direction of Jon Shehan, Millersville holds a 39-12 advantage in the series against Bloomsburg, including a 19-6 record at Cooper Park. Millersville won three of four in the 2021 regular season series, totaling 38 runs. Bloomsburg, however, scored a 9-5 extra-inning win over the Marauders in game two of the series at Cooper Park. 
  • In that game, Jared Marshman gave up four runs in four innings for Bloomsburg and Kris Pirozzi allowed four in a 3 2/3 for Millersville, and the teams took a 4-4 tie into the eighth. Millersville did not have a hit in three innings against Logan Hile. Bloomsburg then scored five runs in the eighth. Millersville won the other three games of the series by a combined score of 33-9. Conor Cook threw a complete-game, one-hit shutout in the opener, and Paul Wilson allowed just two hits and struck out seven in five innings in game four. 
  • Cole Friese had a big series vs. Bloomsburg, going 7-for-13 (.538) with three home runs, eight RBIs and five runs scored. Friese also hit four home runs in the six 2019 meetings with Bloomsburg. 
  • Millersville hit .342 while Bloomsburg hit .227 in the four games this season.
  • Bloomsburg has won three of the last four games played at Cooper Park, including a 2-1 win in the 2019 NCAA Super Regional. 
  • Millersville and Bloomsburg have met in the postseason just three times, and Bloomsburg has won the last two games. In addition to the 2019 Super Regional game, Bloomsburg beat Millersville 7-1 in the second round of the 2019 PSAC Tournament. The only other postseason came in the 2018 PSAC Tournament semifinals. Millersville won 6-1 to advance to the championship round. 
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