WEST CHESTER, Pa. - For the fourth season in a row and the eighth time in the last 10 seasons, the Millersville Marauders are the PSAC Eastern Division champions. The Marauders clinched the 2023 crown by sweeping a doubleheader at West Chester Tuesday by scores of 5-4 and 7-6.
All three games of the series were decided by one run, but Millersville (37-7, 18-3 PSAC East) received outstanding bullpen work and home runs from
Thomas Caufield,
Sam Morris and
John Seibert for its first doubleheader sweep at Serpico Stadium since 2013. The 2-1 series win gave head coach
Jon Shehan his 10th PSAC East crown in 15 seasons on the bench. Since Shehan's first title in 2008, only two teams have won the division--Millersville (10) and West Chester (5).
Millersville is now the only PSAC program to win four-straight division titles two different times since the conference began divisional play in 1976.
"We've been here before, yes, but I don't want to take it lightly," said Shehan of the PSAC East title win. "Each student-athlete that comes through our program is here for a short time. Many of them come here to win. It's a big accomplishment to win the regular season in such a tough division in a tough league. I'm really proud of the manner in which it was done--against a good team in a tough place to play."
Millersville and West Chester have evenly split the last 56 meetings, and there was no margin for error between the evenly matched clubs on Tuesday. In game one, the Marauders trailed 3-0 two outs into the sixth inning and hadn't had a hit since
Bren Taylor's single in the second at bat of the first inning. West Chester starter Joe Sperone (6-3) had been on cruise control,
Jimmy Losh and Taylor worked back-to-back walks. Then, the PSAC's hottest hitter,
Thomas Caufield, ripped his seventh home run in eight games to tie the score. Back-to-back West Chester errors kept the Millersville rally rolling, and
Justin Taylor singled in a run. The West Chester miscues proved costly as the five-run inning was enough for the Marauders.
Reliever
Evan Rishell (3-0) struck out four and gave up one run in 2 2/3 innings.
Nate Young notched his third save by getting the final two outs of the seventh, stranding the tying run at third and the winning run at first.
"The win was about toughness," said Shehan. "I was really proud of how we came back and put an ugly number on the board after a tough start. Caufield is unconscious right now. That was an impressive homer to tie the game."
Millersville's plate discipline played a significant role in game two as well as the first three Marauders and four of the seven to score all reached on walks. Leading 3-2 in the fifth, Millersville received a leadoff home run from Morris and a two-run shot from
John Seibert for a 6-2 lead. West Chester did not go quietly, chasing Millersville
Alex Mykut from the game in the bottom of the fifth with a three-spot.
Colby Gromlich (4-0) entered in relief, put out the fire in the fifth and went on to strike out one in the sixth, three in the eighth and three in the ninth. He fanned the last six batters that he faced.
"Gromlich throws a ton of strikes and has plus stuff," said Shehan. "He was a shot in the arm for our staff at just the right time. His final inning today was as good of an inning as anyone's had all year."
Gromlich worked 4 1/3 innings, allowing just two hits and one unearned run. He struck out seven without issuing a walk. It was his longest outing since pitching six innings against Goldey-Beacom on March 6, 2022.
At the plate, Caufield, Morris and Seibert finished with two hits apiece.
Bren Taylor and Seibert both drove in two.
UP NEXT
• While the Eastern Division title and a PSAC Tournament No. 1 seed are wrapped up, Millersville still has one series remaining with Bloomsburg. The Marauders travel to Bloomsburg on Friday before celebrating their seniors and alumni during the May 6 doubleheader.
