MILLERSVILLE, Pa. – Connor Blantz carried a no-hitter into the seventh inning and led Millersville to a 2-1 win over Shippensburg before Bren Taylor continued his assault on the PSAC record books with a walk-off single in the bottom of the seventh of game two, lifting Millersville to a 4-3, come-from-behind win and sweep of the Raiders.
 
Four of the last six and sixteen of the last 19 games between the PSAC East rivals have been decided by two runs or fewer, and the Marauders won both Friday by the narrowest of margins, needing some heroics along the way. Blantz out-dueled Shippensburg ace Jaxon Dalena, striking out eight without issuing a walk, and both pitchers surrendered just two hits. Only a fifth-inning catcher's interference call stood in the way of Blantz's perfection through six, and Evan Rishell left the tying run on second base for his second save of the season.
 
"Blantz was outstanding," said Millersville head coach Jon Shehan. "Three pitches today. The change-up was a big part of it against lefties. That is the next step for him. He can now mix up three pitches and probably the best he's pitched all season in terms of locating pitches."
 
Dalena's mistakes were minimal but impactful, and Millersville got its offense by unlikely means. Jimmy Kirk executed a squeeze bunt with Taylor at third in the second inning, and in the sixth, with Millersville leading 1-0, No. 9 hitter Donis Rodriguez took Dalena over the right-field fence for a crucial solo home run.
 
Taylor's game one base hit moved him to fourth in the PSAC record books with 285, and his run moved him into a tie for fifth with West Chester's Joey Wendle (2009-12). But Taylor wasn't finished. With the Marauders trailing by a run, the bases loaded and one away in the bottom of the seventh, Taylor stepped in against Shippensburg closer Jack Robinson, and there is nobody, maybe even in the entire 137-year history of Millersville baseball, that the Marauders would have rather had at the plate.
 
The two-time PSAC East Athlete of the Year ripped the first pitch that he saw into center field, scoring Rodriguez from third and pinch runner Caleb Sturtevant from second without a throw to the plate.
 
"Bren Taylor is special," said Shehan.
 
Just before Taylor stepped into the box, he requested an offensive conference to discuss with the three base runners what he should expect from Robinson. The scouting report worked perfectly as Robinson's fastball at the top of the zone caught too much of the plate to beat Taylor.

"He called timeout just to see what kind of pitch shape he was going to see," said Shehan. "He's so intelligent. He's a step ahead. He knows how the ball is going to move. This group communicates. If you watch them make outs, they go to the next guy on deck and tell them what they are seeing. That kind of stuff pays off. That's what Bren wanted there, what he was going to see. It was a fastball. The pitcher had a really good fastball, and Bren had to get on time. He got what he was looking for."
 
Before the seventh inning, Robinson had allowed just one run over the previous nine appearances, spanning 12 1/3 innings. Taylor's single, preceded by a five-pitch leadoff walk to Rodriguez, a single from Keegan Soltis and a five-pitch walk from Matthew Williams, personified Millersville's offensive patience, and that played a key role as Millersville rallied from down 3-0 in the sixth, as well. Reliever Brenden Anderson had not allowed an earned run in his first 16 1/3 innings of the season, but a Soltis walk, Taylor single, Sam Morris RBI single and a Kirk RBI ground-out pulled the Marauders to within striking distance.
 
"(Former assistant coach) Bobby Dorta made a big impact on us the last couple of years," said Shehan. "He engrained in this group that you are always one at-bat away. They believe that. We are willing to take pitches, get hit by pitches, willing to not try to do the job ourselves. You see a selfless offense go to work, and that puts a lot of pressure on the opposing pitchers."
 
Matt Shamany picked up the mound victory in game two, tossing two perfect innings after Conor Cook scattered three runs on four hits through five.

Millersville travels to Shippensburg Saturday to close out the four-game series.