MILLERSVILLE, Pa. - No. 14 Millersville baseball improved to 11-0 at home,
Carson Kulina improved to 6-0, and the Marauders handed Kutztown starter Jake Skrocki his first loss of the season with some patience at the plate. Millersville totaled 10 hits and drew six walks in the series-opening 9-2 victory.
Millersville, now 19-4, received five strong innings from Kulina, who surrendered one run on three hits, and
Kris Pirozzi,
Evan Rishell,
Sam Morris and
Logan Layton combined to toss four innings with one hit allowed.
Jimmy Losh and
Bren Taylor both reached base with two hits, a walk, and a stolen base. Losh drove in two runs while Taylor plated three. However, it was No. 9 hitter
Chase Simmons that sparked the Millersville lineup.
Simmons worked a walk to lead off the third, swiped second base and then scored on a
Sam Morris RBI single. Then, with the Marauders nursing a 2-1 lead in the fifth, Simmons again led off and reached on a perfectly placed bunt down the third base line. Losh and Taylor followed with back-to-back singles, and
Keegan Soltis drove in his second run of the day with a sacrifice fly, boosting the Marauders' lead to 4-1.
Simmons again jump-started a Millersville inning with a leadoff triple in the eighth. Losh plated Simmons with a sacrifice fly, and Millersville would tack on one more to pull in front by seven runs.
"Simmons' at-bats have been really good," said Millersville head coach
Jon Shehan. "From where he was last year to now, he is drawing walks, and battling and grinding out at-bats. His bunting has been really good. It's been a pleasure to watch him play."
Skrocki entered the game undefeated in four starts and boasting a .173 batting average against. Facing a stiff breeze from center toward home plate and a steady rain in the early innings, several hard-hit balls off of the Marauders' bats died for easy flyouts in the gaps. But instead of growing impatient at the plate, the Marauders did the opposite, frequently forcing Skrocki into deep counts. Millersville drew four walks and forced Skrocki to throw 98 pitches before he exited with two runners on base in the sixth. The seven runs credited to Skrocki were one more than he had allowed in his first 22 innings of the season.
"The at-bats were excellent," said Shehan. "We hit some balls really hard today, but this is a tough park to play in today. The wind was blowing straight in, and it turns into a graveyard quick. I was happy that we continued to be patient. Chase got the bunt down in the middle innings and really got things going."
Kutztown's best opportunity to cut in the Marauders' lead was in the sixth after a double and a walk knocked Kulina out of the game. With the tying run at the plate, the Marauders' turned to
Kris Pirozzi, who promptly rolled a 4-6-3 double play and a ground out to end the inning.
"Kris has really good stuff," said Shehan. "His breaking ball has been really, really good. In that spot, you are looking for swings and misses, weak contact and a double play ball. He went out and got it done."
UP NEXT
Millersville travels to Kutztown Saturday for a doubleheader starting at 1 p.m.
