MILLERSVILLE, Pa. – After being swept on Tuesday by the Warriors, the Marauders needed a strong performance against the visiting Golden Bears on Wednesday afternoon. Millersville did just that, with wins of 4-0 and 6-4 over Kutztown. The entire team contributed to a four-run sixth inning in game two to eliminate a 4-2 deficit and grab the victory.

GAME ONE:
The Marauders nabbed an early lead in their first chance at the plate. Kendra Bumgardner singled off of the pitcher to start the game and Gabi Turner followed a few batters later with a walk to put two runners on with two outs. Sam Fried came through with a double into the right field gap to bring home both runners and take the 2-0 lead. Fried was her team's main source of offense in the game, as her double and heads-up baserunning in the third inning would bring home the other two runs. She brought home Gabby D'Ottavio, who got on with a single. Fried advanced to third on the throw to home, and a bad throw by the catcher got past the third baseman and allowed her to score.
 
When it was all said and done, Millersville starting pitcher Alex Schaefer only needed one of those runs, as she threw her fourth complete-game shutout of the season. It was not an easy outing for Schaefer, who scattered eight hits and two walks across her seven innings of work. Kutztown managed to put two runners on in five of the seven frames, but Schaefer worked out of it unscathed every time.

GAME TWO:
The Golden Bears did most of their damage in the first chance at the plate. They tagged Marauders starting pitcher Morgan Crutcher for three runs in the first inning on five hits. The final out of the inning was recorded on an excellent defensive play by the tandem of center fielder Bumgardner and catcher Carly Vaughan. The Kutztown batter singled to center with a runner on second base and Bumgardner threw a strike to the plate, where Vaughan held on the tag and the out. The visitors would add one more tally in the top of the third inning, but that's all the scoring they managed on the day.
 
Millersville's bats responded in the bottom of that inning. Bumgardner's second of five singles on the day put a runner on for D'Ottavio, who laced a ball over the right-center field fence for her first long ball of the season. That cut the deficit to two, which is where it would remain until the bottom of the sixth. Crutcher grinded her way through 4.1 innings before Schaefer took over with two runners on in the top of the fifth inning. She did in relief what she had in her start in game one: work out of trouble. With two on and one out, she forced a pop fly and a fly out to escape once more.
 
Sami Fried led off the bottom of the sixth with her first home run of the season. The ball received a little help from the left fielder, as it tipped off of her glove and over the fence, but it may have gone out anyway. That brought the Marauders to within one, but they were far from finished. Hailey Watlington singled up the middle and Marli Schreiner followed with a base hit to right. Victoria Fuss beat out a would-be double play ball to keep the inning alive and put runners on first and second for Bumgardner. She tallied her fourth single of the game and brought home Fuss to knot the contest at four. Another single loaded the bases, this time off the bat of Aleese Angelo. Turner smashed a ball through the hole on the left side and put the Marauders on top 6-4. Schafer ensured the score remained that way in the seventh and the sweep was complete.

GAME NOTES

• The Marauder's all-time record against the Golden Bears improves to 44-99 with the two wins. Millersville jumps from seventh to a tie for fifth in the standings after the two victories. The 'Ville is tied with the team they just beat in Kutztown with a 9-9 conference record. They will have another crack at the Golden Bears on April 23.
• With her home run in game two, D'Ottavio reached 100 runs batted in for her career. She's the seventh Marauder to do so and it puts her tied for sixth with Sabrina Atkins on the all-time list.
• Schaefer is sitting on 107 career appearances. She will most likely match or break Millersville's all-time record of 109 in the coming days; that record is currently held by former Marauder workhorse Brianna Andraos.

POSTGAME REACTION FROM HEAD COACH JEN PROBST

• Overall thoughts: We competed all 14 innings. We didn't have that low. Even though we might not have been scoring, we were getting runners on. I was really excited about the number of hard outs that we had. We were hitting all through the lineup, but I just kept pushing the bottom of the lineup; we weren't getting any runs out of them. I was really getting on them, and it was awesome to see them spark that win at the end." 
• On Fried and D'Ottavio getting hot at the right time: "I think it's huge. This is the time of year where you want to start peaking, climbing, and getting to your best level of play. I'm really excited about that."
• On Schaefer's ability to work out of trouble: "That's just her mental toughness, hands down. That is one of the most mentally tough kids I've ever coached. It doesn't matter what the count is, what the score is, she's going to work."

UP NEXT

• The Marauders travel to Mansfield to take on the Mountaineers on April 12 at 2 p.m.