ABOUT THE SERIES

• With three PSAC East series remaining, Millersville sits one game out of first place, and on Friday, the Marauders will be tested by a Shippensburg team that is 12-5 at home. Millersville earned two pivotal wins over nationally ranked East Stroudsburg on Sunday, ending the Warriors' 27-game winning streak and improving to 15-1 at Cooper Park where it hosts Shippensburg on Saturday. 
• Millersville now has six wins over nationally ranked opponents and remained the top-ranked team in the NCBWA Atlantic Region Poll. Shippensburg received votes in the poll after a 5-0 week. 
• Prior to Saturday's doubleheader, Millersville Athletics hosts an alumni and donor gathering on the upper level of the parking garage overlooking Cooper Park. Lunch and beverages are provided. Registration is required. 

SCOUTING THE MARAUDERS

• Alex Mykut continued his dominant 2024 season with his fourth complete game. After a two-out solo home run in the first inning, Mykut pitched 6 1/3 scoreless innings. Mykut's moved back to the top of the NCAA Division II ranks with a 1.01 ERA. Mykut also ranks fifth in Division II in hits allowed per nine innings. Mykut tops the PSAC in ERA, wins (9), innings (62 2/3) and strikeouts (75). Mykut boasts a 0.82 ERA and 0.79 WHIP in five starts against the PSAC East. Since 1984, only four Millersville starting pitchers have finished a season with an ERA under 2.00. Brandon Miller was the most recent to do it with a 1.42 ERA in 2016. 
• Mykut isn't the only Marauder among the national leaders. Jeff Sabater broke a 37-year-old school record for stolen bases last weekend when he swiped his 41st of the season. Sabater is now 42 for 47 in stolen base attempts. He has six more steals than any other player in Division II, 12 more than any Division I player and eight more than the Division III leader. Sabater is one of eight players in PSAC history to steal 40 bases in a season. He is 10 shy of the PSAC record set by Seton Hill's Jack Whalen in 2023. 
• Keegan Soltis had not caught since high school before moving behind the plate full-time in April. Even after the challenging position change, Soltis has been the Marauders' best hitter against the PSAC East. In 20 division games, Soltis has hit .396 with a .529 on-base percentage and a team-high eight extra-base hits. 
•  Mark McNelly is the only player in the PSAC to rank in the top 10 in batting average (.390), slugging percentage (.630), on-base percentage (.504), runs (36), RBIs (33) and stolen bases (18). He and Sam Morris are the only PSAC players with at least 30 RBIs and 15 stolen bases. 
• After starting the season 1 for 10, Hunter Stevens has raised his batting average to .286 by going 9 for his last 25 (.360). Steven has also drawn a walk in the last five games that he has had at least one plate appearance, and he has hit three home runs in his last 12 at-bats. 
   

SCOUTING THE RAIDERS

• Shippensburg responded to a recent six-game skid with five consecutive wins. The Raiders swept the March 15-16 series from West Chester but split with Bloomsburg and Shepherd and were swept by East Stroudsburg before sweeping Lock Haven last weekend. The Raiders' offensive production has dipped in recent weeks. Since scoring 11 against Shepherd on March 29, they have averaged 4.5 runs per game, dropping to No. 9 in the PSAC in runs scored. The Raiders still rank fifth in batting average (.288). It is a club that puts the ball in play. The Raiders rank fifth in fewest strikeouts, and Carter Arbuthnot ranks fifth in Division II in toughest to strikeout with a strikeout once in every 27.3 at-bats. Carter Hinds ranks 12th in the nation in the same category. The Raiders, however, rank 13th out of 17 PSAC teams in walks drawn. Gio Calamia has been the team's top offensive performer against the PSAC East with a .363 average, .416 OBP and 10 steals in 24 games. Austin Baal leads the team with 17 extra-base hits and a 1.097 OPS. 
• The Raiders' pitching staff has been solid, ranking fourth in the PSAC in strikeouts, eighth in ERA and seventh in batting average against. Jaxon Dalena is on his way to an All-PSAC East season as he ranks 10th in ERA (3.23), sixth in opponent batting average (.209) and sixth in strikeouts (58). Shippensburg also has three pitchers with at least two saves. 

SERIES HISTORY

• Millersville has won the last five games against Shippensburg and have won 10 in a row at home, a streak that dates back to 2017. That season was also Shippensburg's last series win over Millersville. Since the Raiders took the first three games of the 2017 series, the Marauders have won 18 of the last 20. Nine of the last 20 have been decided by one run, and Millersville has won seven of them. 
• In 2023, Millersville won three closely contested games. Bren Taylor hit two home runs and Carson Kulina pitched six innings with one run allowed in a 3-2 game one victory. In game two, Millersville trailed 6-4 through four innings but rallied, getting a Chase Simmons home run in the seventh for a 7-6 win. In game three, Millersville built an early 6-0 lead, but Shippensburg made it interesting late. The Marauders held on 8-6 with Colby Gromlich getting the mound win. Gromlich struck out six and did not allow an earned run in three innings. Alex Mykut started and struck out five but lasted three innings, allowing three runs.