ASTON, Pa. - Redshirt sophomore Jared Marshman (Berwick, Pa./Berwick) pitched the best game of his collegiate career on Wednesday afternoon as he lifted the Bloomsburg University baseball team to a 5-2 victory at West Chester University in the quarterfinals of the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) tournament. With the win, the Huskies improved to 19-14 on the season and, more importantly, advanced them to the semifinal round for a best-of-three series at Millersville University beginning on Sunday, May 16. The loss dropped the Golden Rams to 20-11 on the year.

Marshman improved to 4-1 on the season after going eight-plus innings and allowing two runs on eight hits. He did not walk a batter and struck out seven in the longest outing of his collegiate career. Marshman tossed eight scoreless innings before allowing a double and a two-run home run in the bottom of the ninth to end his bid for a complete-game shutout. The right-hander exited following the home run, giving way to senior JJ Spehrley (Pottsville, Pa./Pottsville Area), who retired the three batters he faced to nail down the first save of his collegiate career.

Bloomsburg scored a run in the third and then broke the game open with four runs in the seventh to give Marshman all of the offense he would need. Redshirt juniors Kyle OFier (Pittston Township, Pa./Pittston Area) and Jared Burcin (Bethlehem, Pa./Liberty) combined for five of the Huskies' eight hits while adding three RBI in the victory.

But, the story of the afternoon was Marshman, who was in complete control all day. The redshirt sophomore threw 105 pitches, with a ridiculous 79 of those finding the strike zone. The most pitches Marshman had ever thrown in a game, before Wednesday, was 100 against Mercyhurst in the 18-inning marathon to open the NCAA Atlantic Regional on May 16, 2019. Marshman had also never gone more than seven innings in any outing during his career - until Wednesday - with his previously-longest effort coming 11 days ago in a complete-game win over Lock Haven.

Marshman recorded eight fly-ball outs, eight ground-ball outs, and seven strikeouts on the day while allowing only three baserunners to reach scoring position through the first eight innings.

The Huskies took a 1-0 lead in the top of the third inning on a two-out RBI double from OFier off West Chester starter, BraedenFausnaught. OFier's team-leading ninth two-base hit of the season plated redshirt junior Jake Reed (Quakertown, Pa./Quakertown), who led off the inning with a walk. With the free pass, Reed extended his streak of consecutive games reaching base to 22 straight.

West Chester had a chance to respond in the bottom of the third as it loaded the bases on three consecutive singles - all with two outs - against Marshman. But, the right-hander retired Mike Ferrara on a fly ball to right field to get out of the jam.

Bloomsburg got into the West Chester bullpen and broke the game open with four runs in the top of the seventh to take a 5-0 advantage. Reed started the rally by getting hit by the first pitch he saw from Golden Rams' reliever Culver Hughes to lead off the inning. Redshirt sophomore Anthony Viggiano (Wallingford, Pa./Strath Haven) followed with a single to put runners at the corners with nobody out. Arguably, the game-breaking play occurred next as redshirt junior Carter Chasanov (Magnolia, Del./Polytech) hit a bouncer to third that was fielded cleanly by the West Chester third baseman. After looking Reed back to third, he ran out of time to get an out at second and then rushed his throw to first to try to get Chasanov. The throw ended up down the right-field line, allowing Reed to score and putting runners at second and third with nobody out. OFier laced a single to bring home Viggiano for a 3-0 lead, and then Burcin doubled down the right-field line to score Chasanov for a 4-0 advantage. Senior Andrew Holmes (Egg Harbor Township, N.J./Egg Harbor Township) plated OFier on a sacrifice fly for the inning's fourth run and extending the Huskies' lead to 5-0.

The hosts got their first two runners on base - on a single and a hit batsman - in the bottom of the eighth against Marshman as they tried to cut into the lead. But, the right-hander got Nick D'Amore to ground into a 6-4-3 double play and then erased Justin Horn on a fly ball to right to leave a runner stranded at third.

Ferrara doubled to start the bottom of the ninth for West Chester, which was followed by a two-run home run from Luke Cantwell to end Marshman's brilliant effort. Spehrley was summoned from the Huskies' bullpen, and he recorded the final three outs, getting a tremendous leaping catch in left-center from senior Gianni Sinatore (Whitehall, Pa./Whitehall) for the first out of the inning. Spehrley then struck out Dennis Pierce and got JR Gifford to ground out to Viggiano at third to earn his first career save.

It was Spehrley's first relief outing since May 17, 2018, in an NCAA Atlantic Regional contest against Mercyhurst.

Fausnaught suffered the loss for West Chester as he dropped to 4-2 on the season, allowing a run on four hits in 5.1 innings. He walked four and struck out six.

Burcin went 3-for-5 with the RBI double in the seventh, while OFier was 2-for-5 with a run scored two RBI. Viggiano, Sinatore, and senior Cole Swiger (Maple Glen, Pa./Upper Dublin) combined for the other three Bloomsburg hits.

The Huskies were the only lower-seeded team to win a quarterfinal game on Wednesday afternoon. They will head to top-seeded Millersville University, who defeated fourth-seeded Shepherd by an 11-4 final, for a best-of-three semifinal series at Cooper Park beginning on Sunday, May 16. Out west, top-seeded Seton Hill will host second-seeded Mercyhurst in the other semifinal matchup. Seton Hill defeated Gannon, 6-0, while Mercyhurst took care of California, 10-3.

Bloomsburg and Millersville will play two on Sunday, beginning at noon, with the third game, if necessary, taking place on Monday, May 17.