LOCK HAVEN, Pa. - A combined one-hitter in game one and dominating outings from Alex Mykut and Kris Pirozzi in game two guided the 11th-ranked Millersville Marauders to 5-0 and 2-1 victories at Lock Haven for the first 9-0 PSAC East start in program history. 

Millersville (25-4, 9-0 PSAC East) stretched its overall winning streak to 10 and has now swept each of the first three PSAC East series by allowing just 2.22 runs per game in the nine wins.

"The pitchers stood out all weekend," said Millersville head coach Jon Shehan. "We faced a pretty good LHU offense that's done some damage against other clubs in our league, and our arms got it done this weekend."

On Sunday at Lock Haven, Ben Wilchacky tossed 5 2/3 innings of one-hit, shutout ball before Nate Young and Evan Rishell closed it. Game two belonged to Mykut and Pirozzi who combined for 11 strikeouts without a walk in the nine-inning affair. Mykut matched a season-high with 6 2/3 innings pitched, and Pirozzi earned his second save of the season with six strikeouts in seven outs. 

The defense behind the pitchers was spotless as well as the Marauders played error-free baseball in all three games of the series. 

"We played excellent defense all weekend," said Shehan. That and good pitching give you a chance to win every game." 

Both games were tightly contested, and game one stood tied at 0-0 until the Marauders broke through in their final at-bat of the seven-inning game. Millersville totaled just three hits in the game, two of which came in the seventh, but it was the Marauders' patience at the plate that started the rally. The first four batters of the inning drew walks. Matthew Williams' bases-loaded walk pushed in the game's first run, and Keegan Soltis immediately followed with a two-run single. Soltis then created havoc on the base paths in a first and third situation. He swiped second and an error on the catcher allowed Williams to score and Soltis to move to third. Cole Houser broke the game open with a sacrifice fly. 

While Wilchacky walked the leadoff hitter in each of the first four innings, he managed to retire the next three in each of those innings. He tossed a 1-2-3 fifth inning and carried a no-hitter into the sixth. After Wilchacky sat down the first two Lock Haven batters, Garrett Nepert broke up the no-hitter bid with an infield single. That was Wilchacky's final batter. Young got out of the sixth, and Rishell took care of three hitters in the seventh. 

After driving in two runs in the opener, Soltis went 3-for-3 with a walk and run scored in game two. Jimmy Losh also tallied three hits in the game, but both of Millersville's runs scored on Dale Houser's second-inning, two-run double. 

"Soltis had a very good day offensively, and Dale came up with a huge double with two outs, and that was the difference," said Shehan. 

With Millersville holding a slim, 2-1 lead in the bottom of the ninth, Lock Haven threatened, eventually putting the game-winning run on second base. Pirozzi plunked the leadoff hitter, and then with one out, pinch hitter Jaxson Pupo hit a check-swing single between first and second base to put runners at the corners. Pirozzi struck out the next batter, but a pitch in the dirt on strike three allowed Pupo to reach second. Pirozzi end the threat with a quick strikeout to end the game. 

UP NEXT
• A pair of nationally-ranked teams collide on April 7 and April 8 as No. 11 Millersville and No. 10 East Stroudsburg play a three-game series. Millersville travels to ESU for a nine-inning game on Friday before hosting a doubleheader at Cooper Park on Saturday.