Tournament information

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LANCASTER, Pa. -- Millersville scored five runs in the bottom of the eighth inning Wednesday afternoon to hand The Rock a 5-3 setback in the opening game of the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Baseball Championships at Clipper Magazine Stadium.

The Rock scored two runs in the top of the first inning and one run in the second but was shut out in its final seven at bats.

As a result, SRU (25-22) now finds itself in jeopardy of being the first team eliminated from the six-team tournament.

The Rock will seek to take the first step on the long comeback road at noon Thursday, when it will meet the winner of Wednesday night's opening-round game between Shippensburg and West Chester.

Millersville (23-24) will play at 6 p.m. Thursday against the winner of Thursday's 9 a.m. game between Indiana (Pa.) and Kutztown.

The Rock took advantage of bases on balls to its first two hitters, Rich Michalek and Scott Bender, in the top of the first inning Wednesday to take a 2-0 lead. The runs scored on Billy Herman's two-out single to center field.

Millersville threatened to come right back and score in the bottom of the first as the Marauders' leadoff hitter doubled down the left field line. But Rock starting pitcher Chris Squeglia worked out of the potential jam by inducing a groundout, a lineout and a flyout from the next three batters.

Those would be the first of 11 straight batters Squeglia would retire in order before allowing a two-out single in the fourth.

SRU manufactured what would prove to be its final run of the game from a leadoff walk to Matt Messer, a single by Jim Eimiller, a sacrifice bunt by Billy Messer and a run-scoring groundout by Michalek in the top of the second inning.

Eimiller, who had two singles, was the only Rock player to have more than one hit in the game.

The Rock had runners on base every inning from the third through the ninth with the exception of the eighth, but could not push across any runs during that span.

That failure didn't prove costly, though, until the bottom of the eighth when Squeglia yielded back-to-back singles to the first two Millersville batters and walked the third hitter to load the bases with no outs.

Mike DeCola relieved Squeglia and hit the first batter to face him to give Millersville its first run. A second run scored on a groundout before the Marauders' Arroyo delivered the fatal blow, a three-run home run to deep right field.

The Rock then mounted a last-ditch comeback effort in the top of the ninth as it had the tying run at second base with two outs, thanks to a one-out single by Michalek and a two-out double by Matt Adams.

The rally ended when SRU cleanup hitter M.J. Parsons lined out to second base for the final out of the game.

That was the second costly lineout in the final four frames for SRU. Michalek smacked a shot back up the middle in the top of the sixth after Billy Messer had led off the frame with a double, only to have Millersville starting and winning pitcher Rhoads snare the shot and double Messer off second base.

Squeglia ended the game with three earned runs allowed on six hits with two strikeouts and three walks in seven innings. DeCola allowed two earned runs on one hit and struck out two in the final inning.