SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. – The Indiana University of Pennsylvania baseball program shook up the PSAC Tournament on day one, taking out the East's top-seed and eighth-ranked team in the nation, Millersville University, in dominant fashion, racing out to a commanding 8-0 lead including a five-run fourth, to send the Marauders home stunned in an 8-1 monumental upset.
 
One of the premier powerhouse baseball programs in the NCAA Division II, Millersville had not been eliminated in the conference's opening round since the 2012 season, winning the past ten times until Wednesday. The Marauders were ranked  atop the latest NCAA DII Atlantic Region rankings as the defending conference champions, entering the contest with an impressive 40-7 overall mark. 
 
Jeremiah Williams set the tone early with a mix of pitches, tossing 5.2 scoreless innings of five-hit, two-walk baseball while sitting down five Marauders.
 
Following Williams were relievers Sean Furlong and Jason Madrak who combined for 3.1 frames, allowing zero earned runs (one total) with five more whiffs.
 
Harrison Pontoli drove in a pair of ribbies on his lone single in the fourth, scoring and walking twice as well in an all-around effort.

IUP struck early, plating two runs in its first trip to the plate of singles from Andrew Sicinski and Torrey Roper for a 2-0 advantage. Williams carried the Crimson Hawks over the next few innings, including a strikeout of the side in the third inning before IUP broke the game open in the fourth. 

Consecutive singles from Matt Luchovick and Branden Kanick, followed by a fielder's choice chased Millersville starter Alex Mykut. Cestra loaded up the bases after getting plunked and Pontoli cashed in with a looping single to right before IUP notched three more runs in the stanza with two coming on a throwing miscue following a Sicinski groundout. 
 
Peyton Johnson one-upped Pontoli with a trio of free passes and two scores while Au'Sean Owens crossed the dish twice on top of swiping the lone bag.
 
Out of the dozen hits that the Crimson Hawks scattered about, seven of them came off the bats of three men: Zach Miller, Roper, and Kanick.
 
Miller went 3-for-5 (.600) with a run batted in, Roper had two singles plus an RBI, and Kanick smashed a double plus a single to go along with an RBI.
 
Markus Cestra did a little bit of everything on the evening, doubling, driving in a run on a sac fly, scoring, and reaching via a hit-by-pitch.
 
It was a team effort from batters one to nine in the order as every player that stepped into the box reached safely with eight of those notching at least one base hit.
 
The Crimson Hawks survived the one-game elimination round and have moved on to the double elimination portion of the PSAC, beginning their quest for an NCAA Regionals appearance against the #3 seed out of the East, the West Chester Golden Rams, on Thursday at 1:30 p.m. in Slippery Rock.
 
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