MILLERSVILLE, Pa. - Alex Mykut and
Conor Cook pitched back-to-back gems as Millersville completed a four-game series sweep of Lock Haven by scores of 14-0 and 3-1 Saturday at Cooper Park.
Mykut (7-0) pitched six shutout innings with seven strikeouts before exiting with a 14-run lead, and Cook (5-0) followed that effort by matching a career-high with 10 strikeouts and his first complete game since the 2022 season.
"Veteran outings," said Millersville head coach
Jon Shehan. "They didn't have their best stuff. We had some situations where we could have thrown some better pitches in 0-2 and 1-2, but they come back and make good pitches and battle their butts off."
Mykut did not allow an extra-base hit and walked just one, and his offensive scored at least one run in every inning. Cook worked with a minimal lead and navigated a couple of tenuous innings but did not give up a run until there were two away in the seventh. Nick White's run-scoring double put the tying run in scoring position, but after a mound visit from pitching coach
Ryan Kramer, Cook needed just one pitch to get Jerry Lambert to fly to right for the final out.
"You get to the tying run on base, Cook makes a quality pitch and gets out of it."
With several key hitters like
Matthew Williams and
Mark McNelly on the shelf with injuries, Millersville continued to receive offensive contributions from its bench. Redshirt
Hunter Stevens hit a three-run homer, going 3 for 3 with four runs, four RBIs in game one.
Jimmy Kirk, filling in for Williams at first base, had a hit and two runs scored in the opener and plated the Marauders' first run in game two.
Justin Taylor recorded two doubles, a single, two RBIs and three runs on the day.
"At the beginning of the year we were worried about getting all of our guys work," said Shehan. "We don't have to worry about that now. It's a lot of fun to watch some veteran guys come off the bench and have big weekends.
Jimmy Kirk, (
Justin Taylor) had been cold for a while and got hot this weekend. Hunter had a big day. O'Connor had a big homer yesterday and a double on a slash today. That's what Marauder baseball is all about, picking each other up and getting the job done."
Millersville totaled 12 hits and drew seven walks in game one, but continually created runs with base running and productive outs.
Jeff Sabater went 3 for 4 in the leadoff spot, drove in three runs, and after stealing four bases in game two of the series, he took three more in Saturday's opener, bringing his single-season total to 36--four shy of the single-season program record. Millersville scored seven runs on productive outs in the doubleheader, including six in the opener. In the second game,
Amani Jones' RBI ground out in the fifth gave the Marauders some breathing room.
"We had a couple of situations where we didn't get the job done, but then you have guys like Amani with two strikes, stays in the middle of the field and moves the runner over," said Shehan. "He did his job. Overall, there were only two situations out of eight or 10 that we didn't execute on. That's good team baseball and shows you are selfless and want to win."
GAME NOTES
- Sabater now has the second-most steals in a single season in Millersville history. Ernest McCoy stole 36 in 1986 before swiping 40 in 1987. A Marauder has stolen more than 30 bases just five times since the record was set.
- Kirk had a hit in all four games of the series, going 7 for 13 with seven RBIs.
- Millersville is now 24-0 in games that Mykut, Cook and Carson Kulina make an appearance. The trio is a combined 18-0.
- Mykut's ERA dipped below 1.00 to 0.91 after Saturday's start. He entered the weekend ranked sixth in the NCAA in ERA.
UP NEXT
- Now 25-5 overall and 14-1 in the PSAC East, Millersville steps away from divisional play and hosts Mercy for a four-game series at Cooper Park on April 6-7.
