After three games of offensive gluttony to open the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference baseball tournament, one pitcher decided to settle things down — Millersville sophomore Brandon Miller.
Miller fired a two-hit shutout with a career-high 12 strikeouts Wednesday night to lead the Marauders past California (Pa.) 8-0 in an opening-round game at Kelly Automotive Park in Butler.
Armed with a 90-mph fastball, the 6-4, 195-pound right-hander from Ephrata took a no-hitter into the sixth inning for Millersville (39-9). He”s won 11 straight games after a season-opening loss.
Miller’s sparking performance provided another benefit. Marauders coach Jon Shehan can now send three-time PSAC East Pitcher of the Year Chris Murphy to the mound against one of the top-hitting teams in NCAA Division II, Seton Hill, at 6:30 p.m. Thursday in a second-round matchup.
California (24-21) faces Shippensburg at 12:30 p.m. Thursday in an elimination game.
Millersville, ranked 17th nationally in Division II by Collegiate Baseball magazine, opened the scoring in the third inning on Dan Stoltzfus’ two-run single. The PSAC East regular-season champs then disposed of Cal starter Justin Taylor with a five-run fifth that included home runs from John Brogan and Mitch Stoltzfus.
Seton Hill 11, Shippensburg 5 (boxscore)
Seton Hill clubbed three home runs — including the 25th of the season for PSAC West player of the year Nick Sell — and rapped out 11 hits. It was the first-ever PSAC tournament victory for the Griffins, 40-9 and ranked eighth by Collegiate Baseball. They entered the game hitting .355 as a team.
Shippensburg falls to 25-24.
The Raiders led 2-0 early on Jake Kennedy’s 19th homer of the year, a two-run shot in the first. But Seton Hill grabbed a 4-3 lead after four innings and took control with a five-run fifth that knocked out Shippensburg freshman starter Gabe Mosser (6-2).
Shippensburg had just seven hits, but three were home runs. In addition to Kennedy’s shot, onetime Greencastle-Antrim standout Cody Ezolt clubbed two long-distance homers, both solo shots. Ezolt and Kennedy were a combined 5-for-8; the rest of the Raider hitters were 2-for-25.
East Stroudsburg 18, Mercyhurst 11 (boxscore)
East Stroudsburg (29-17) raked the PSAC’s top-ranked pitching staff for 21 hits, knocking out Mercyhurst starter Cam Knott in a seven-run first inning.
The Warriors earned a second-round matchup with Slippery Rock at 3:30 p.m. Thursday. PSAC West regular-season champion Mercyhurst (32-7) will meet West Chester at 9:30 a.m., the loser facing tournament elimination.
Every East Stroudsburg starter hit safely, led by Matt Walewski (Cedar Crest), who drove in four runs on a 4-for-4 afternoon. Conner Crookham and Drew Hercik both went 3-for-6, Crookham adding a homer and three RBIs.
With the help of a six-run eighth inning, the Erie-based Lakers rolled up 19 hits themselves. Austin Alonge, Brendan Cox and Cameron Balego had three each.
Slippery Rock 9, West Chester 8 (boxscore)
Adam Urbania’s two-run single climaxed a big sixth inning for Slippery Rock (30-16), which held off late-charging West Chester (26-12) in the tournament opener.
Trailing 4-3 entering the sixth, Slippery Rock tied the game on an RBI double by Kyle Vozar and went ahead on Jordan Farretta’s run-scoring single, which chased West Chester starter Nick Stallings (6-2). Four batters later, Urbania, a two-time all-conference selection, rapped his two-run single to center off reliever Mike Cipolla for a 7-4 lead.
