Butler, Pa. - Jim McDade had already faced Mercyhurst Lakers twice in the PSAC Tournament. He owed them one. The senior delivered a complete game and scored his first win in four career PSAC Tournament starts, helping the Marauders advance to the PSAC Championship game for the third consecutive season by a 6-3 final.
McDade's first two starts against the Lakers were no decisions. The third time was the charm when he allowed three runs on eight hits while striking out five on Tuesday. The Marauders (47-4) and Lakers (40-12) met for the ninth time in the last six postseasons, with Millersville winning five of those, including three in a row in the PSAC Tournament. And keeping to the script, the semifinal game was close to the finish. Millersville scored five runs in the second and third innings and built an early 5-0 advantage. Mercyhurst retaliated with a three-run sixth.
Dan Neff hit a key solo home run in the sixth, and McDade worked his way through the final three innings to eliminate the Lakers. But the final frames were not without drama.
David Summerfield started the Marauders' scoring with a brilliant, 11-pitch at bat in the second. With the bases loaded, Summerfield fouled off five consecutive full count pitches before lacing a single to left.
Mitch Stoltzfus and
Jeremy Musser both scored to give Millersville an early lead. Another run scored on a
Tyler Orris fielder's choice.
The lead grew to five in the third when Musser and
Ben Snyder delivered back-to-back RBI singles. The Laker starter was chased from the game after three, but Jamie Lauria entered in the fourth and stemmed the tide, allowing the Lakers to creep back into striking distance.
After a pair of scoreless frames, the Lakers received a two-run double from Hank Morrison in the sixth. Morrison came home on a Daniel Elliot ground out. McDade, however, responded with back-to-back ground outs.
Millersville had not managed a hit off of Lauria for two innings, but Neff hit a first-pitch solo shot to the opposite field one batter into the bottom of the sixth. The three-run lead was plenty for McDade.
McDade worked a 1-2-3 seventh. In the eighth, Austin Alonge reached on a walk and Chris Gonzalez ripped a fly to right that sent
Chas McCormick racing full speed into the wall. McCormick gloved the fly, held on through the collison and nearly doubled Alonge off of first base. Morrison, however, doubled again, and the tying run came to the plate. But
Dan Stoltzfus gloved a hard grounder off the bat of Elliot and flipped it to McDade for the final out of the inning.
In the ninth, Cameron Balego led off with a single, but was promptly cut down with a 6-4-3 double play executed by Orris and
Ted Williams. McDade took the final out himself, scooping a comebacker and flipping it to Stoltzfus, sealing the victory.
The win was McDade's 25th (25-10), moving him into a tie with Tad Barton for second in Millersville history.
Musser and Snyder led the Marauders at the dish, recording two hits apiece.
Millersville now awaits the winner of the West Chester-Seton Hill match-up. That game begins at 11 a.m. with the championship following after.
