Phillips Tosses Shutout; Lead Huskies to Split vs. Millersville

BLOOMSBURG- Bloomsburg University pitcher Chace Phillips (Milton/ Milton), who was making his first start since coming down with an arm injury on Feb. 24, tossed a complete-game shutout to lead the Huskies to a split versus Millersville University on Sunday afternoon. Phillips allowed just six hits in the second game of the doubleheader to earn his first win of the season.

In game two, Bloomsburg pushed across the first run of the game in the bottom of the fourth when Syril Kress (Littlestown/ Littlestown) doubled home Rob Watlock (Plains/ Coughlin) to make it 1-0. Bloomsburg increased its lead to 2-0 when Matt Robinson's (York/ Red Lion) single brought Nick Lerch (Selinsgrove/ Selinsgrove) around to score. The Huskies then added two more insurance runs in the bottom of the sixth, when Chris Brown (Vestal, NY/ Vestal) doubled in the gap, bringing home Vinnie James (Bristol/ Bristol) from third. Brown would then advance to third on a fly ball and score on a wild pitch to give the Huskies a 4-0 lead going into the final inning. Phillips then shut the door in the seventh to give Bloomsburg the win.

In game one, Millersville jumped out to an early 4-0 lead, scoring two runs in the first and two in the second. However the Huskies cut the lead in half scoring two runs in the bottom of the second. After consecutive singles from Kress and James, both runners advanced a base on a pass ball. Kevin Ward (Upper Darby/ Monsignor Bonner) then singled home both runners to make the score 4-2. Then in the bottom of the fifth, with runners on second and third, Andy Bucher (Littlestown/ Littlestown) singled home two runs to tie the game at four.

However Millersville responded with two runs in the top of the sixth to take a 6-5 lead. Bloomsburg was able to add a run in the bottom of the seventh to cut the lead to 6-5 but Millersville pitcher Paul John Holberg was able to hold on for the win.

Bloomsburg, now 11-30, 5-11 in the PSAC East will travel to Lock Haven on Tuesday for a doubleheader at 1 p.m.