MILLERSVILLE, Pa. - Sixth-ranked Millersville baseball extended its winning streak to eight with wins of 8-2 and 8-1 over Mercy Saturday afternoon at Cooper Park. 

Millersville, now 27-5, filled its PSAC East bye weekend with the first-ever games against Mercy, and the Marauders totaled 21 hits and 13 stolen bases in the doubleheader. On the mound, Carson Kulina went five innings in game one to improve to 7-0, and in game two, Conor Cook surrendered just two hits in five shutout innings to move to 6-0. Millersville has allowed just nine runs in its last 10 home games.

"We just want to play good baseball this weekend," said Millersville head coach Jon Shehan. "That's every weekend. We want to throw strikes, get ahead of hitters, finish hitters, play good defense, situational hit, and get our swing off the plate. I think we did that pretty well today." 

The Marauders performed in every facet of the game. Kulina struck out six and gave up three hits. Cook fanned six as well. Korey Williams struck out four in two perfect innings of relief in the opener, and Harry Prince and Cole Fisher combined for three strikeouts and one hit allowed in game two. 

"For the most part, we executed well," said Shehan. "There were four or five pitches we'd like to execute better on. We all thought Cook might have a chance to throw a no-hitter and he hung an 0-2 pitch that was elevated for a hit. There were a couple of compounding mistakes in game one where we probably could have thrown a shutout. But other than that, it was a pretty clean day."

Neither game was ever in doubt as the Marauders scored six runs in the first inning of game one and three in the first inning of game two. In the opener, after a ground out to start Millersville's bottom of the first inning, Cole Houser doubled, and Matthew Williams blasted a colossal home run to left field. Millersville added three more hits and a walk to put the game out of reach early. Williams drove in game two's first run as well, plating Houser with a single, and the Marauders used productive outs to build a 3-0 lead. 

"I'd like to say that playing with an early lead takes some pressure off the pitchers," said Shehan. "But after the 6-0 lead, Carson went out and walked the first guy. That was frustrating but a good learning opportunity. It does alleviate the pressure to have to go out and win. The expectation is to win, and sometimes that can make players play up tight. Getting some early runs on the board helps with that."

Millersville's lineup was as full strength as it has been in weeks with the return of Williams and McNelly and John Seibert behind the plate. The Marauders received contributions up and down the lineup. Williams drove in four runs. Houser totaled three doubles. Jeff Sabater went 3 for 4 with two steals in game two, pulling to within two of Millersville's single-season school record. Keegan Soltis drove in three runs in game two. Jimmy Kirk recorded a homer, triple and three RBIs in game one. After going 2 for 3 in the opener, Mark McNelly drew four walks, stole four bases and scored three runs in game two. Amani Jones also had a hit in both games after going the previous seven without a hit. 

"We have to keep rotating guys and giving them five to six at-bats a day," said Shehan. "We accomplished that with Jimmy today, for example. "He's swinging the bat really well. Right now it's tough. Both Jimmy and Matthew had really good days. Matthew was probably six inches away from a second homer and got robbed. We have to continue to celebrate everyone's successes knowing you'll get your opportunity. Consistent at-bats is the goal right now."

UP NEXT
Millersville closes its four-game series with Mercy on Sunday starting at 12 p.m.