Resilient Marauders overcome Seton Hill to advance to Super Regional

Saturday, May 16

Millersville, PA

11:00 AM

Millersville University

39-16

Seton Hill

42-12

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	Runs R	Hits H	Errors E
Millersville	1	6	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	8	6	0
Seton Hill	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	6	2

Photo by: Mark Palczewski

Resilient Marauders overcome Seton Hill to advance to Super Regional

5/16/2026 2:32:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score

By: Ethan Hulsey, Director of Athletic Communications

MILLERSVILLE, Pa. - Millersville had been there before. Seton Hill had been there before. The Griffins, looking to stave off elimination and end Millersville's season on Saturday at Cooper Park put 'Ville starter Matt Shamany on the ropes with three runs in the first inning. But the Marauders responded, Shamany found his groove, and Millersville rallied for an 8-3 win and a berth to the NCAA Super Regional.

364 days ago, Seton Hill took two games on the final day of the regional to break Millersville's heart, and it ended Millersville's season in 2024 and six times since 2013. Seton Hill had reached three consecutive super regionals in the same fashion. This was familiar territory. And in the bottom of the first, Seton Hill looked like a runaway train on the verge of pulling off the feat four years in a row. But Millersville took full advantage of Mark Wechntenhiser's uncharacteristic lack of command, scored six runs in the top of the second, and Shamany blanked Seton Hill for the next five innings.

"It's been guts all year," said Millersville head coach Jon Shehan. "Five weeks ago, I was making plans to go get lost in the mountains for a couple of weeks in May, and here we are going to a Super Regional. This team is resilient. They are never out of it. It's been a lot of fun to stay out of their way and let them compete."

The Marauders, PSAC Tournament champs, have now won seven consecutive postseason games, beating Seton Hill three times. Saturday's win was a familiar recipe--pitching unafraid of contact and a patient and unselfish approach at the plate. Millersville scored seven runs in the first two innings with just two hits. Wechtenhiser, who entered the game with a 0.94 WHIP and the team's best ERA, hit five Marauders, walked three and could not escape the second inning. Before a pitching change was made, Millersville put eight runners on base without recording a hit. Millersville, which ranked third in the country in hit-by-pitches, simply refused to move, and gladly accepted the free bases. Millersville knotted the game at 3-3 when Donis Rodriguez and Matthew Williams were plunked back-to-back with the bases full.

"We talk about it a lot," said Shehan. "Bobby Dorta set in stone a couple of years ago. Either you love your teammate or you don't. If you are willing to take a bullet for them, you love your teammate. Our guys have bought into that. At times our offense has struggled, and it has kept us above the water line and allowed us to compete. 90 feet is 90 feet. It doesn't matter how you cut it."

With Wechtenhiser unable to find the strike zone, Seton Hill pressed likely game four starter Jack Pletcher into duty out of the bullpen. Pletcher's first pitch was poked into right field by Jimmy Kirk for a two-run double. One pitch later, Sammy Laux went to right field as well for an RBI single. Xavier Smith followed with a sacrifice fly, boosting Millersville's lead to 7-3.

"Kirk's single to right, that's just him being selfless," said Shehan. "He just trying to hit a fly ball to right and drive a run in. God designed this game to make it like life--when you are selfless you get hits. When you give it up for other guys, it works out for you. It's a funny thing. But God is great."

The top of the second inning also featured a lengthy delay when the home plate umpire was struck by a pitch and left the game. Shamany, who had allowed three runs on four singles to the first five hitters in the bottom of the inning, sat in the dugout and stewed for more than 45 minutes. Yet when Millersville returned to the field in the bottom of the second, Shamany went 1-2-3 through the top of Seton Hill's lineup.

"When you think you've seen it all in this game, you haven't," said Shehan. "I give Sham a lot of credit for sitting for 45 minutes and coming out and putting up a zero. Seton Hill had that momentum going, and it was big for him to give a shut down inning."

Shamany needed just nine pitches to work through the second, and it corrected his course. Seton Hill, the PSAC's leader in runs scored, managed just two more hits against Shamany as he pushed to a career-high in innings pitched and the most pitches he's ever thrown in a game. After issuing a walk with one out in the seventh, Shamany handed the ball to Joe Morrissey, who promptly got the leadoff hitter Jack Whalen and PSAC West Athlete of the Year Brady McGuire to fly out, using four pitches.

"After the first inning, it was just about trusting the defense," said Shamany. "I knew our offense would have a big day. The six-spot in the second was huge. Everyone on the team relaxed. You are able to go out and compete."

Shamany rode his fastball and cutter for quick outs and fanned seven Seton Hill hitters. Morrissey allowed one hit and struck out a pair over the final 2 2/3 innings.

"Eli (Nabholz) made a mound visit in the first inning and said, 'We are not going to let this go any further,'" said Shamany. "We just wanted to get them to put the ball in play and get quick outs. About the fourth inning I found my groove. I just wanted to perform for my teammates. It's super special to play with them in these moments."

After a wild inning-and-a-half, the game settled into a classic Millersville-Seton Hill battle in which base runners were rare, situational hitting mattered, and defensive was at a premium. Millersville scored the only other run of the game in the top of the seventh when Ebbert followed Xavier Smith's leadoff triple with a sacrifice fly. Morrissey retired the Griffins in order in the ninth, getting Whalen to ground out on the first pitch of the at-bat.

Millersville was hit by six pitches, drew five walks, hit a pair of sacrifice flies and produced seven RBIs while totaling just six hits. The Marauders were error-free in the field, and Seton Hill mustered just six hits and did not score for the final eight innings.

"Seton Hill has great players year in and year out," said Shehan. "One of us has ended the others season in five of the last six years. My hat is off to Marc Marizzaldi. His club is always good. It's always a challenge, and it's a great barometer for our program. Are we there or are we not? Right now we are playing good baseball, and it's been fun to watch."

While Millersville is the No. 2 seed, it will host No. 1 seed West Chester in the best-of-three Super Regional on May 21-23.