LOCK HAVEN, Pa. - Powered by six home runs and aggressive base running the sixth-ranked Millersville Marauders rolled to a 15-4 in Friday's opener against Lock Haven before rallying from a four-run deficit to win 11-6 in game two.
Millersville (23-5, 13-1 PSAC East) set a program record by swiping 12 bases in game two with
Jeff Sabater's four and
Sam Morris' three leading the way. The Marauders came within two steals of the all-time PSAC record set by West Chester in 2022.
Keegan Soltis,
Jimmy Kirk and
Justin Taylor hit home runs in game one, and
Cole Houser,
Nick O'Connor and
Hunter Stevens all hit homers in game two. Millersville's bats combined for 24 hits in the doubleheader. Kirk's day was especially impressive as he went 2 for 3 with three runs and three RBIs and game one and capped his day by going 3 for 5 with three RBIs in game two. Houser finished his day with five hits, five RBIs and three runs scored.
GAME ONE
- Houser's bases-clearing double in the second inning gave the Marauders a 5-0 lead and put the game out of Lock Haven's reach early. Kirk's two-run homer came in the third, and Soltis added a solo shot in the fifth before Millersville scored seven more runs in the seventh, three of which came on Taylor's home run.
- Millersville starting pitcher Carson Kulina (6-0) won his sixth consecutive start. He recorded a career-high 12 strikeouts. Of the three runs allowed, only one was earned, and Kulina pitched five innings for the seventh consecutive time.
GAME TWO
- Millersville trailed 6-3 entering the top of the fourth inning, but Amani Jones' leadoff walk and Sabater's bunt single started a rally. Jones raced to third on the bunt, and Sabater swiped second. Sam Morris plated Jones with a ground out, and Kirk delivered an RBI single to pull Millersville to within a run.
- The deficit remained until the top of the sixth when Sabater continued to cause havoc on the bases. After reaching on a throwing error, Sabater stole second and then scored on a wild pitch to tie the game. Morris walked, stole both second and third and gave Millersville the lead when Lock Haven uncorked its second wild pitch of the inning. Taylor gave the Marauders some breathing room with an opposite-field RBI single. Millersville piled on in the seventh with home runs from Stevens and Houser and an RBI single from Soltis.
- Reliever Alex Kuehn (2-1) played a crucial role in Millersville's rally as well. Lock Haven scored five runs in the first two innings, but Kuehn entered and stemmed the tide. He gave up one run in the third and then proceeded to pitch four shutout innings. He scattered three hits, struck out five and did not walk a batter over his final four innings.
GAME NOTES
- Sabater now has 33 stolen bases in 28 games and is seven steals shy of the school record, which has stood since 1986.
- Only six PSAC teams have topped 12 stolen bases in a game, and it's been accomplished just three times since 1976.
- Millersville improved to 8-0 in games started by Kulina.
- Millersville has scored double-digit runs in six of 14 PSAC East games.
UP NEXT
- Millersville returns to Cooper Park on Saturday for a doubleheader against Lock Haven with the first pitch set for 11 a.m. The game time was moved up two hours because of expected rain.
