MILLERSVILLE, Pa. — The Millersville Marauders had just one extra base hit on the day and fell on both ends of their doubleheader against the Shepherd Rams by scores of 5–1 and 4–2 Saturday afternoon. Despite the result, there was still cause to celebrate as the team honored seniors
Kendra Bumgardner,
Bryn Spoerl and
Angelina Saverase for their contributions to the program prior to the game.
"Our seniors knew they had a big task leadership-wise after having ten seniors graduate last year," Millersville head coach
Jen Probst said of her three seniors. "They have gone above and beyond in terms of their attitude, their effort, and in mentoring the younger players. I couldn't ask for more from the three of them in everything they've given to the program."
On the field, the Marauders tallied nine hits between the two games for three total runs. Heads-up baserunning was involved in two of those scores. In game one,
Angelina Edwards was on second base with two outs and
Cara Mazzucco up to bat. Mazzucco hit a routine grounder to the second baseman, who booted it, allowing the freshman to reach base. Hustling all along, Edwards scored from second base despite the ball not leaving the infield. In game two,
Jocelyn Langer was on third base and
Carly Vaughan laid down a well-placed bunt to bring the runner home. On her way to reach first base safely, Vaughan saw that nobody was covering second and didn't miss a beat, making the turn for second and getting there safely with a celebratory yell.
"Obviously, the bats weren't alive today," Probst said postgame. "And when you get in those situations, it's great to have some fast runners. We were able to execute some small ball, which I thought put pressure on them (Shepherd) and kept us in both of those games."
Nicolina Pezzone got the start in game one and threw well, going four innings and allowing one run. She struck out five of the first six hitters she faced including setting down the side in order with three swinging strikeouts after a leadoff walk in the second; after those first six batters, the Rams struck out just twice over the next 12 innings and Pezzone finished the game with six punchouts.
Mollie White threw two scoreless frames in game one and two more in the nightcap.
Of Millersville's nine hits, eight of them came from four of the top five batters in the lineup: Langer had three, Vaughan had two, Bumgardner had one and
Jiana Maniscalco had two including a double. Langer's productive day extended her on-base streak to 34 consecutive games dating back nearly a month and a half to February 26.
The Marauders will look to bounce back when they travel to West Chester on Tuesday, April 8 to take on the Golden Rams at 2 and 4 p.m.
