BLOOMSBURG, Pa. – The Bloomsburg University baseball team lost both games of a home doubleheader to Millersville on Saturday afternoon. The Huskies fell 8-4 in the first game, and the Marauders carried an early lead to a 24-6 victory in Game 2.
In Game 1, Millersville scored two runs in the second inning to grab an early lead and the away team was able to hold onto that advantage for the remainder of the game despite some comeback attempts by Bloomsburg.
After falling behind 5-1 in the fifth inning, Bloomsburg responded in the home-half of the inning with a solo home run by
Kyle OFier (Pittston Township, Pa./Pittston Area) to make it a three-run game. OFier's homer gives him 166 runs batted in for his career, which is now the most in program history and surpasses Matt Karchner's previous record of 165 RBI.
Millersville, however, extended its lead in the sixth with three runs in the frame to make it 8-2. Still, the Huskies fought back in the bottom of the seventh and was even able to bring the tying run to the plate after some solid at-bats. The bottom of the seventh saw a little bit of a two-out rally when
Adam Gates (Swedesboro, N.J./Gloucester Catholic) hit a two-run home run of the center-field fence to make it an 8-4 game.
Anthony Viggiano (Wallingford, Pa./Strath Haven) walked in the next at-bat and that was followed up by back-to-back singles by
Bryce Porter (Lincoln University, Pa./Perkiomen) and
Jake Reed (Quakertown, Pa./Quakertown) to load the bases. With the tying run at the plate, a strike three was called on a 2-2 count and Millersville pitcher Sam Morris stranded three Bloomsburg runners to end the game.
The Huskies outhit the Marauders 12-6 in the first game despite the loss. Gates paced the team's offense with his two RBI and
Bryce Porter (Lincoln University, Pa./Perkiomen) led the squad in hits as he went 3-for-4.
Jake Reed (Quakertown, Pa./Quakertown) was 2-for-4 and seven other players had one hit apiece.
The second game saw Millersville jump out to an early lead again, but the squad's offense was able to keep any comeback efforts by Bloomsburg at bay as the Marauders continued to add insurance runs throughout the contest during their runaway win.
Millersville scored seven runs in the first two innings on two three-run homers and an RBI single. The Huskies answered in the bottom of the second with a two-run HR by Porter to make it 7-2, but that was followed up by a six-run third inning by the Marauders to make it 13-2 through three innings. The Marauders posted four-run innings in the fourth and sixth to put the game out of reach and make it 21-2 after six innings.
The Marauders finished the game with 24 runs on 23 hits.
Bloomsburg scored four of its six runs in the final two innings and finished the contest with 12 hits.
Carter Chasanov (Magnolia, Del./Polytech) led the squad with his 3-for-5 game and had an RBI. Viggiano was 2-for-5 with a double, RBI and run scored. Gates and Reed both had two hits and scored once. Newbert and
Owen Fischl (Whitehall, Pa./Whitehall) added hits and
Jonathan Labarbera (Lebanon, Pa./Cedar Crest) scored twice after reaching the base paths on a fielder's choice and getting hit by a pitch.
The two games wrap up a home-and-away series between the two teams and comes one day after the Huskies topped the Marauders. Following the series, Bloomsburg (22-18-1, 11-9-1 PSAC) sits in fifth place of the PSAC East, just ahead of Mansfield (20-22, 11-10 PSAC), who lost three straight games over the weekend to Shippensburg (25-20, 15-6 PSAC).
Shippensburg is tied with West Chester (27-9, 15-6 PSAC) and Millersville (34-12, 15-6 PSAC) for first place in the division. East Stroudsburg (32-13, 13-8 PSAC) is in fourth place, one spot above Bloomsburg.
The Huskies will close out their regular season with four games next week. The squad hosts the University of Pitt-Johnstown (18-24-1, 6-18 PSAC West) on Tuesday, and that will be followed up by a home-and-away series against Lock Haven (9-29, 2-19 PSAC East) next weekend.
Bloomsburg's home game against Lock Haven on Friday will be Senior Day and is scheduled to begin at 2:00 PM. The Huskies will then head to Lock Haven for a doubleheader on Saturday.
