HTML BOX SCORE

JOHNSTOWN, Pa. - The Bloomsburg University baseball team saw its run in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) tournament on Saturday morning as the Huskies dropped a 6-1 decision against Millersville University at Point Stadium. With the loss, Bloomsburg dropped to 31-18 on the season while the Marauders advance to the championship game with a 34-17 overall record.

The Huskies went 2-2 at the PSAC tournament this season with a pair of victories over Slippery Rock and losses against Seton Hill and Millersville. It was Bloomsburg's first trip to the postseason since 2014 and, the initial win over Slippery Rock on Wednesday, was the program's first playoff win since 2011 when the Huskies also went 2-2 at the conference tournament. Prior to the 2011 squad, the Huskies hadn't made the playoffs since 1997.

Bloomsburg, which entered with one of the the top team batting averages in the conference, was limited to only three hits against two Millersville pitchers - Cordell Shannon and Mike Mock - as the Huskies managed only six baserunners the entire game. Shannon went the first eight innings and improved to 8-2 on the season after allowing only an unearned run on three hits. He walked two and struck out five. Mock pitched a scoreless ninth, allowing only sophomore Cole Swiger (Maple Glen, Pa./Upper Dublin) to reach base after he was hit by a pitch.

Redshirt junior Zach Newmyer (New Cumberland, Pa./Red Land) started for the Huskies and lasted only two innings as he allowed four runs on five hits and a pair of walks. The righthander dropped to 1-2 on the season. The Huskies' relievers - junior Ashton Raines (Wallingford, Pa./Strath Haven), freshman Nick Stoner (Elizabethtown, Pa./Elizabethtown), and senior Mike Warren (Garnerville, N.Y./St. Joseph Regional) - held the Millersville bats in check the rest of the way to keep the Huskies within striking distance. Raines allowed one run - a solo home run by Ben Snyder in the fifth - over three innings of work. He did not walk a batter and struck out two. Stoner came on and allowed only a hit while striking out one in a scoreless sixth inning while Warren pitched the final two innings and allowed an unearned run in the seventh. He gave up one hit and walked a batter during his outing.

Millersville dented the scoreboard in the bottom of the first inning against Newmyer on a two-out RBI double from Jimmy Cain on a 3-2 offering. Newmyer left Cain stranded at second as he retired Dominic Hardaway on a groundout to end the inning.

The damage was done in the Millersville half of the second as three runs crossed the plate - all coming with two outs. Newmyer retired the first two batters on a popup and a groundout but then walked the Millersville eight and nine batters to get into a jam. Leadoff hitter Cole Friese then deposited a 2-1 pitch from Newmyer over the wall in left field for a three-run home run and a 4-0 Marauders' lead. Two more hits followed before Newmyer retired Cain on a lineout to right field to leave runners stranded at second and third.

Bloomsburg got on the board in the top of the third with a run on two hits and a costly error. Junior Ryan Shiffer (Toms River, N.J./Toms River South) led off by reaching on an error and then advanced to second on a single from freshman Jared Burcin (Bethlehem, Pa./Liberty). Freshman Jake Reed (Quakertown, Pa./Quakertown) was unable to get a bunt down on the first two pitches of his at bat, but was able to work the count full before lining out to Friese in the right-centerfield gap for the first out of the inning. Swiger, however, came through with an RBI single that somehow snuck through a pair of Millersville infielders to score Shiffer and to cut the lead to 4-1. The Huskies continued the threat as Burcin advanced to third on a fielder's choice off the bat of redshirt senior Austin Edgette (Exton, Pa./Downingtown East) with Edgette following with his 24th stolen base of the season to put runners at second and third for redshirt junior Shane Woelfel (Mahwah, N.J./Mahwah). Shannon unleashed a wild pitch that, unfortunately for Bloomsburg, took a favorable Millersville bounce and Burcin was nailed at the plate trying to score which ended the inning.

Raines came on in relief in the third and retired the Marauders in order in both the third and fourth innings on a total of 14 pitches. In the fifth, Snyder belted a one-out solo home run off of Raines to extend the Millersville lead to 5-1.

Shannon, meanwhile, allowed only two Huskies to reach base after allowing the Bloomsburg run in the third. Shiffer reached on an infield single in the fifth but was erased on a double play and freshman Kyle OFier (Pittston, Pa./Pittston Area) drew a one-out walk in the seventh but, likewise, was erased on a 6-4-3 double play.

The Marauders scored their final run in the seventh after Kaylor Kulina reached on an infield single and then advanced to second on a throwing error to lead off against Warren. Back-to-back fly outs by Snyder and Cain allowed Kulina to cross home plate for a 6-1 advantage.

Millersville had nine hits in the game, but only four hits after the second inning. Kulina went 3-for-4 with a pair of runs scored while Snyder went 2-for-4 with a solo home run.

Swiger, Shiffer, and Burcin had the Bloomsburg hits against Shannon.

The Huskies will learn of their NCAA postseason fate on Sunday night, May 13, when the NCAA Division II selection show reveals the teams that will be participating in their regional tournaments. Fans can watch the live stream of the selection show at 10:00 p.m. on NCAA.com.

Bloomsburg has appeared in the NCAA tournament just one prior time - 1995 - when the Huskies won the North Atlantic Regional Championship with an 11-7 victory over Mansfield in the regional title game on May 20, 1995 in Erie, Pennsylvania, to earn a trip to the national championships in Montgomery, Alabama. The 1995 squad finished with a school-record 37 victories. This year's Huskies have the second-most victories in program history with 31.