Baseball | 3/22/2019 2:07:00 PM

 
SERIES COVERAGE
• SATURDAY: LIVE STATS
• SUNDAY: LIVE STATS

RELATED LINKS
• Bloomsburg: Schedule • Roster • Statistics
• Millersville: Schedule • Roster • Statistics

THE STORY
• The Bloomsburg University baseball team opens Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) action this weekend when it takes on Millersville in a four-game series. The Marauders were picked to win the PSAC East and are off to a 13-6 start on the year. The Huskies were picked third and are 9-3 on the season. The teams will open the series in Millersville on Saturday before reconvening in Bloomsburg on Sunday.

SERIES HISTORY
• Millersville leads the all-time series against Bloomsburg, 106-81. The teams met five times last season with the Marauders winning four of the five contests. Millersville took three of four during the regular season and then ended the Huskies' run in the PSAC tournament with a 6-1 victory on May 12.

THE HUSKIES AT A GLANCE
• Bloomsburg is fourth in the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) Atlantic Regional poll and started the year with eight wins in its first nine games before dropping two of three against St. Thomas Aquinas last week in Virginia. All three of Bloomsburg's losses this season have been by one run.

• The offense is off to a slow start as it ranks 12th in the PSAC with a .268 team batting average. The Huskies are averaging seven runs per game (84 runs in 12 games) as Bloomsburg batters have walked 73 times (third in the PSAC) which has helped the team to the seventh-best on-base percentage in the league (.399). Junior Cole Swiger (Maple Glen, Pa./Upper Dublin) is off to a fast start as he is batting .333 (15-of-45) with three home runs and 14 runs batted in. He leads the Huskies in runs (14), hits (15), RBI (14), and slugging percentage (.578). Senior Ryan Shiffer (Toms River, N.J./Toms River South) is hitting .314 (11-of-35)  with five runs batted in. Sophomore Jake Reed (Quakertown, Pa./Quakertown) leads the team as he is hitting at a .385 clip (10-of-26) with seven runs batted in. Redshirt freshman Carter Chasanov (Magnolia, Del./Polytech) has been an excellent table-setter as he is batting .294 (15-of-51) with a team-high eight stolen bases. Sophomore Kyle OFier (Pittston Township, Pa./Pittston Area) leads the team with four home runs.

• Pitching has been sensational as the Huskies are third in the PSAC with a 3.10 team earned run average. The staff has limited opponents to a .202 batting average - second-lowest in the PSAC - and has struck out 122 batters in 93 innings while allowing 45 free passes. Junior Chad Cooperman (Allentown, Pa./Salisbury) leads the starting rotation thus far as he is 2-0 with a 1.80 ERA and a team-high 21 strikeouts in only 15 innings. He is limiting opponents to a .154 batting average. Senior Ashton Raines (Wallingford, Pa./Strath Haven) is 2-0 with a 2.30 ERA and 16 strikeouts in 15.2 innings while junior JJ Spehrley (Pottsville, Pa./Pottsville Area) is 1-0 with a 2.76 ERA and 17 strikeouts in 16.1 innings. Bloomsburg has a quartet of relievers that are off to blazing starts - senior Trey Hinkle (Macungie, Pa./Emmaus) (1-0, 0.00 ERA), Zach Newmyer (New Cumberland, Pa./Red Land) (0-1, 1.12 ERA), freshman Jared Marshman (Berwick, Pa./Berwick) (1-0, 3.00 ERA), and redshirt junior James Reardon IV (Springfield, Pa./Springfield) (0-0, 3.60 ERA). The four have combined to allow just 20 hits and 11 walks in 28.2 innings while striking out 43 batters.

SCOUTING THE MARAUDERS
• Millersville is third in the Atlantic Region according to the latest NCBWA poll and is also receiving votes in the national rankings. The Marauders are 13-6 overall on the year but have dropped their last two games (at Seton Hill and at Shepherd). Prior to the modest skid, Millersville rattled off ten straight victories after a 3-4 start to the year.

• Offensively, the Marauders are third in the PSAC with a .315 team batting average. Millersville has scored 171 runs in 19 games - an average of nine runs per game. Seven regulars are hitting .300 or better led by Kaylor Kulina who sports a .382 average (29-of-76) with 18 runs batted in. Cole Friese is hitting .372 (29-of-78) with four home runs and 17 runs driven in. Ben Snyder is at .365 (27-of-74) with a team-high eight doubles. Dominic Hardaway leads the team in home runs (5) and runs batted in (24).

• Millersville is 12th in the league with a 5.57 team earned run average as walks have hurt the Marauders. Millersville pitchers have walked 87 batters in 150 innings but the staff does lead the conference with 186 strikeouts. Cordell Shannon and Eli Nabholz return to pace the starting rotation. Shannon is 4-1 with a 4.56 ERA and 27 punchouts in 25.2 innings. Nabholz is 3-1 with a 4.68 ERA and 28 strikeouts in 25 innings. Out of the pen, Bobby Dorta, Christian Wingard, Tyler Yankosky, and Andrew Mayhew have been the regulars and are off to fine starts.

LOOKING AHEAD
• Bloomsburg will be back home at Danny Litwhiler Field for a mid-week contest against St. Thomas Aquinas on Tuesday, March 26. First pitch is scheduled for 3:00 p.m. The Huskies will then play a four-game series against Kutztown on Friday, March 29, and Saturday, March 30. The teams will begin the set in Kutztown on Friday and then will return to Bloomsburg on Saturday. Both twinbills are slated to begin at 1:00 p.m.