Millersville University
1-2
Wingate
4-2
Marauders edged in extras after epic rally
2/8/2026 8:16:00 PM | Baseball
The Marauders trailed 7-1 after five innings and 11-3 after six but refused to go quietly. With two outs in the top of the ninth, Christo Hunsicker drove in two with a double, Troy Chamberlin followed with a double of his own, and Maddox Yost put the Marauders on top 16-15 with a two-run, pinch-hit single.
Wingate, which has now scored at least nine runs in five of its six games, forced extra innings when Jalen Evans, who had stolen second and third base after a leadoff single, scored when Millersville could not turn two on a Bowen Powell grounder to second base. Millersville put the first two hitters on base in the 10th but failed to score. After Wingate went 1-2-3 in the bottom of the inning, Millersville did the same in the top of the 11th. Wingate ended the marathon in bottom of the inning. Brad Hart doubled to start the inning. An intentional walk was followed by a balk and another intentional walk. With the bases loaded and no outs, Gavin Groppuso looped a softly hit fly beyond the drawn-in second baseman and in front of the right fielder.
"The weekend had a lot of polarity," said Millersville head coach Jon Shehan. "I'm not sure exacty how many college debuts we actually had, but it was more than a dozen. Losing a ballgame after you come all the way back is tough. That said, all of the mistakes that put our back against the wall today are potential improvements for our club if we use them as such."
Of the eight pitchers Millersville used in the game, six made their first college appearances. Five hitters received their first collegiate at-bats during the series.
"We knew coming into the weekend that with so many new faces and young faces, we'd likely see things we weren't expecting," said Shehan. "The key is to take those things back to practice with us and improve. It's a marathon."
Millersville scored 34 runs and Wingate scored 35 in the series. It is the first time in program history that Millersville has allowed 15 or more runs twice in the same series. While the Marauders surrendered 36 hits, the greater issue was walks as Millersville issued 28, including 16 on Sunday. Millersville's eight pitchers on Sunday also combined to throw five wild pitches and gave up three home runs.
"The bottom line is that our three starters have to be better," said Shehan. "Overall, our staff didn't throw enough strikes. Today in particular, we had nine hitters reach base after we had them 0-2 or 1-2. We have to finish off those hitters. Defensively, we learned a lot. Don't assume you don't need sunglasses is a great lessons for a young player. We balked with the winning run on second base during a bunt play. There were quite a few of those types of things that could have moved the needle a run or two in game one and three. The goal is to get incrementally better each week. Being that there is so much to improve on, that shouldn't be tough."
Millersville's lineup was impressive at the plate, though. The Marauders recorded 15 hits and drew nine walks. Matthew Williams went 3 for 5 with two walks. Jimmy Kirk hit a home run, went 2 for 4 and drove in three. Brady Ebbert went 3 for 6 with a walk. Williams closed the three game series going 6 for 12 with five walks. Xavier Smith went 4 for 9 and drew four free passes in three starts.
"Our offense is pretty good," said Shehan. "We really competed at the plate. We learned that we are deep at a few positions--catcher, being one of them. This team is super competitive. They'll do anything they can to scratch and claw their way back in a game. We saw that twice this weekend."
Millersville begins a four-game trip to Hampton, Va. on Feb. 12. The Marauders play two games against No. 19 Felician and two against Molloy.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Parker Jensen (1-0)
L: Kidwell, Nolan (0-1)
Batting:
2B: Hunsicker, Christo 1 ; Chamberlin, Troy 1
HR: Kirk, Jimmy 1
RBI: Kirk, Jimmy 3 ; Williams, Gino 1 ; Smith, Xavier 1 ; Hunsicker, Christo 2 ; Ebbert, Brady 1 ; Chamberlin, Troy 1 ; Sturtevant, Caleb 1 ; Yost, Maddox 2 ; Stevens, Hunter 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Rodriguez, Donis 2 ; Williams, Matthew 2 ; Kirk, Jimmy 2 ; Williams, Gino 2 ; Smith, Xavier 1 ; Hunsicker, Christo 2 ; Ebbert, Brady 1 ; Chamberlin, Troy 1 ; Stevens, Hunter 1 ; Pulizzi, Marco 2
SB: Ebbert, Brady 1 ; Pulizzi, Marco 1
HBP: Chamberlin, Troy 2 ; Sturtevant, Caleb 1 ; Stevens, Hunter 1 ; Pulizzi, Marco 1
Batting:
2B: Sean Sullivan 1 ; Brad Hart 1
HR: Sean Sullivan 1 ; Tanner McCammon 1 ; Ben Karpowicz 1
RBI: Gavin Groppuso 1 ; Bowen Powell 1 ; Sean Sullivan 4 ; Tanner McCammon 2 ; Ben Karpowicz 3 ; Jake Courville 1 ; Reed Benamati 1
SF: Tanner McCammon 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Gavin Groppuso 2 ; Bowen Powell 1 ; Sean Sullivan 2 ; Tanner McCammon 2 ; Ben Karpowicz 2 ; Jake Courville 1 ; Brad Hart 3 ; Jalen Evans 2 ; Reed Benamati 2
SB: Gavin Groppuso 1 ; Jalen Evans 2 ; Reed Benamati 1
