Concord Hosts Nationally-Ranked Millersville in Three-Game Set

Concord Stats - Millersville Stats - Live Stats - Live Video

ATHENS, W.Va. – The Concord University baseball team plays its third nationally-ranked foe of the season when it welcomes 24^th-ranked Millersville to Anderson Field for a three-game series starting 12:00 p.m. Friday and continuing 12:00 p.m. Saturday with a doubleheader.

LIVE COVERAGE
The Concord University Sports Information Department will provide live statistics and live video of the series.

Live Stats
Live Video

SERIES HISTORY: Millersville leads 3-0

ALL-TIME MEETINGS VERSUS MILLERSVILLE
February 28, 2019: Millersville 21 – Concord 5 (Glenville, W.Va.)
May 16, 2013: #24 Millersville 5 – Concord 4 (Winston-Salem, N.C.)
May 20, 2011: #10 Millersville 3 – Concord 1 (Lancaster, Pa.)

CONCORD AT A GLANCE
Overall Record: 4-6
MEC Record: 0-0
Home Record: 2-3
Away Record: 2-1
Neutral Record: 0-2

FIRING STRIKES
Graduate pitcher Zach Powell was stellar in his third start of the season as he picked up his first win in the Maroon and Gray against Shepherd. The Princeton, West Virginia native struck out six over six innings and allowed just one earned run on three hits. In his last two starts, Powell has only given up three earned runs in 11 innings. Powell's 13 strikeouts rank fourth in the Mountain East Conference. Sophomore outfielder/pitcher Demario Faison earned his first career start in game two against Shepherd last weekend. Faison matched Powell with six strikeouts across four innings of work as he sits fifth in the conference in strikeouts. The Goodyear, Arizona native has already surpassed his strikeout total from last season when he collected nine punchouts in 12 innings of work out of the bullpen.

THE MODEL OF CONSISTENCY
Junior infielder Matthew DiSanti, sophomore infielder Nick DiSanti and junior catcher Kaden Swaim have been at the forefront of the CU offense through 10 games. M. DiSanti is second in the MEC in batting average (.485) having tallied at least one hit in nine of 10 games. He is also the only Concord hitter with a four-hit game, doing so against nationally-ranked East Stroudsburg on Valentine's Day. Swaim aided in the 4-2 win over Shepherd with a two-run home run for his first round tripper as a Mountain Lion. Swaim's batting average of .400 is tied for seventh in the MEC while his slugging percentage of .571 is tied for 12^th with teammate and junior outfielder Korbin Bostic. After back-to-back hitless contests, N. DiSanti enters the weekend with multi-hit games in two of his last three contests. Overall, he has five multi-hit games this spring.

MEETING THE CHALLENGE
Friday's series opener marks Concord's fifth game of the year against a nationally-ranked team. Previously, the Mountain Lions faced East Stroudsburg in a doubleheader on February 14 and Ashland in a home twinbill February 24. CU is 0-4 in its four prior games against nationally-ranked foes this year, but nearly came up with a win versus Ashland. Concord let a 4-2 lead in the middle innings slip away as Ashland won 7-5 in 10 innings in the first game. The Maroon and Gray also had a 3-1 lead through three innings versus the Eagles in game two. In two of the three previous matchups with Millersville, CU has faced the Marauders when they have been nationally-ranked (2011, 2013). And the 2011 and 2013 games with Millersville came in the NCAA Atlantic Regional Tournament.

MILLERSVILLE AT A GLANCE
Overall Record: 6-1
PSAC East Record: 0-0
Home Record: 3-0
Away Record: 3-1

SCOUTING THE MARAUDERS
Millersville comes to Athens with its offense averaging nearly 10 runs a game. The potent offense is driven by the Marauders' ability to run the bases. Jeff Sabater has 12 stolen bases to go with a .414 average. Sam Morris has stolen seven bases while Bren Taylor, a career .408 hitter over 177 games, has stolen five bases to go with his 10 RBI. Millersville has 45 steals in seven games. Garet Blankenbiller and Connor Blantz spearhead the pitching staff. The duo has combined for 19.1 innings. Blankenbiller has yet to give up a run in nine innings while Blantz has surrendered just two runs in 10.1 innings.