MILLERSVILLE, Pa. - You can only give Thomas Caufield so many chances. Under Friday night lights with Millersville trailing eighth-seeded Indianapolis by two in the bottom of the seventh inning of the opening game of the NCAA Division II Championship Tournament, the Marauder senior blasted a three-run, opposite field home run, lifting Millersville into the lead and on to a 6-5 victory.

Millersville (46-8) has now come from behind in each of its last four games, and this rally took patience and adjustments. After jumping out to a 2-0 lead early, the Marauders ran into four outs on the base paths, and UIndy charged in front with five runs between the third and sixth, significantly aided by the seven free passes issued by Millersville pitchers in the game. But Millersville's resolve did not waver, trusting hitters to execute in timely situations and believing in the bullpen to close.

"Our game plan didn't work out early," said Millersville head coach Jon Shehan. "Obviously, we were going to be really aggressive on the bases, and it didn't work out. I've got to tip my cap to (UIndy Coach Al Ready). They did a really good job preparing and shutting our running game down. But our hitters bailed us out."

Millersville put up double-digit hits against UIndy ace Brandon DeWitt through six innings but still trailed 5-3. The dangerous top-half of Millersville's lineup was about to see DeWitt for a fourth time, though. At that moment, switch-hitting Jimmy Losh was 0-for-3, lefty Bren Taylor had three hits, and Caufield had stung the ball in all three plate appearances but had only a first-inning single to show for it.



"It was kind of frustrating," said Taylor. "The hitters talk in the dugout and believe in each other, take it one pitch at a time. We had the top of the lineup coming up toward the end of the game. I told Jimmy, 'Find a way on, and I'll find a way on, and we'll get Tommy up with guys on first and second and we'll see what he can do.'"

Taylor's pep talk played out. Losh slapped a one-out single through the left-side, and Taylor got plunked by a pitch. UIndy stayed with DeWitt for the lefty-lefty match-up against Caufield. While there wasn't much in the way of results, Caufield had seen DeWitt well in each of his first three trips to the plate.

"I just stayed with my approach," said Caufield. "You can't overthink it. I went up sitting slider and chased a pitch up (on the first pitch). I saw him shake off, so I went with my gut and sat dead-red fastball."

Caufield hit the 0-1 pitch down the left-field line, looping it just inside the foul pole. It was Caufield's 10th home run of the season and 26th of his career, which moved him into to a tie for second all-time at Millersville. Losh crossed the plate with the 220th run of his career, setting a new Millersville record.

Playing with the lead, Millersville just needed six outs. They turned to left-handed Nate Young for a scoreless eighth, and then went to right-hander and fifth-year senior Kris Pirozzi to face the heart of the UIndy order in the ninth.

"Nate has done a good job against righties all year, so it was a bit of dilemma," said Shehan. "We had one assistant saying stick with Nate, one saying go with Pirozzi. We trusted our preparation this week. We watched a lot of video. Kris was the guy for those three hitters on our sheet, and we stuck with the sheet."

Pirozzi fell behind the leadoff hitter 3-0 and walked the Greyhounds' top hitter on six pitches. Caleb Vaughn followed, having already recorded three hits and two RBIs, but Pirozzi won the battle inducing a deep fly out to right-center field. Zack Williams followed with another fly to right-center gloved by Chase Simmons. With two outs, Nick Lukac worked a full count but Pirozzi dropped a curveball over the inside corner for a called third strike."
 
"We play to our strengths," said Shehan. "Our guys have a good idea of what their identity is. They know they are never out of it. It was very calm in our dugout. It's been that way all year."
Evan Rishell, Young and Pirozzi combined for 3 1/3 innings of shutout work. Starter Carson Kulina surrendered three runs on five hits and two walks over 4 2/3 innings. Colby Gromlich got the Marauders out of two-on, two-out situation in the fifth before allowing two runs in the sixth that boosted UIndy's lead to 5-2.

Justin Taylor went 3-for-4 and drove in a much-needed run for the Marauders in the bottom of the sixth. It was his first three-hit game since the 2022 PSAC Quarterfinal game against Slippery Rock. Taylor has now had at least one hit in each of the last five NCAA Tournament games. Cole Houser added two hits and drove in a run in the first inning. Sam Morris collected two more hits, giving him four multi-hit performances in the last five games. Taylor finished 3-for-3 with two runs. 

UP NEXT
Millersville stays in the winners bracket and plays Rollins on Monday, June 5 at 6 p.m.