MILLERSVILLE, Pa. – In front of a large crowd at Cooper Park on Sunday afternoon, the Millersville baseball team won the series finale against Le Moyne College, 6-3. The Marauders took two of three games from the Dolphins over the entire weekend. Catcher Luke Trainer finished the game 3-for-3 with a run scored, an RBI, and a stolen base. Trainer remains locked-in at the plate and is now 8-for-8 over the past two games.
 
NCBWA Atlantic Region and PSAC East Pitcher of the Week Alex Mykut got the start on the mound and tossed 5 1/3 innings, surrending one earned one, three hits, and striking out six Le Moyne batters to earn his second victory of the season.
 
Redshirt sophomore Jacob Paulishak entered the game in the eighth inning and pitched two scoreless frames to earn the save. Paulishak did not allow a hit, walked two batters and struck out three.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
• For the third time in three games, Le Moyne was the first team to score. A wild pitch plated a run for the Dolphins in the top of the second inning. Millersville answered back immediately in the bottom half of the inning and loaded the bases after a Luke Trainer single and two consecutive walks from Jimmy Cain and Darin Miller. Nick Mancuso stepped in and whacked a 2-run hotshot single that snuck through the hole on the right side and brought home Trainer and Cain. After Bren Taylor bunted to move the runners over, Tyler Wright sent another single to right field to score Miller. Mancuso later scored after a fielding error on a Wright stolen base attempt to make it a 4-1 game.
 
• Ville starter Alex Mykut settled into the game after the second inning and shut down Le Moyne 1-2-3 in the third, fourth, and fifth.
 
• The Marauders added two more runs in the bottom of the fifth. Jimmy Losh extended his hitting streak to 14 games with a one-out single to left field and came around to score after Eric Callahan smashed a ball into the gap in right-center and legged out an RBI double. Trainer once again came through and sent a 2-1 pitch up the middle for an RBI single that brought Callahan home and increased the Ville lead to 6-1.

• Mykut got into trouble in the top of the sixth inning, loading the bases full of Dolphins after two walks and a fielding error. Bobby Dorta came on in relief and threw four pitches to get two outs via a foul out and a line out.

• Kris Pirozzi also pitched out of a jam in the top of the seventh after coming on in relief of Ben Wilchacky. With runners on first and second, Pirozzi struck out the first batter he faced and got the second batter to fly out to center field. He did relinquish back-to-back singles to tighten up the game 6-3, but then forced Le Moyne's Derrick Miller to pop out to shortstop to end the inning and the threat.
 
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
• Nick Mancuso had a solid day with two hits, one run scored, and two RBIs.
• Cole Friese (6), Luke Trainer (2), and Tyler Wright (3) each added a stolen base to their season totals.
• Wright has hit well in limited action in 2020, finishing 1-for-3 with an RBI in today's game and is 6-for-11 with three walks for the season.
• Eric Callahan's double in the fifth was his fourth of the season, tied for second-most on the team. Jimmy Cain leads the Marauders in two-baggers with five.

POST-GAME REACTION FROM HEAD COACH JON SHEHAN
• On the bullpen's performance: "Our pitchers did a good job minimizing damage and handled adversity much better. That's where we struggled yesterday. A couple of guys picked each other up, Kris Pirozzi and Bobby Dorta came in in tough situations and got quick outs. Then Jacob Paulishak did a great job coming in and shutting the door—that's what we need out of our bullpen. If we get that all year we're going to be tough to beat."

• On Luke Trainer's exploits at the plate: "He's a good hitter. I think he's finally figuring out his swing and he's been on time and realizing what it takes to be successful. He's been hitting balls in the air, too. He has tremendous power and adjustability—he's handling balls down in the zone and up in the zone. I'm not going to say he's going to go 8-for-8 every series, but he'll continue to be a tough out and he can drive balls a long way."

• On preparing for PSAC play next weekend: "I think we're confident. We've figured some things out. Even in the last game here, with Tyler Wright having a nice day playing third base and then bullpen sorting itself out—all that will help a little bit. We're looking forward to playing conference baseball and we'll take it one pitch at a time like we have for the last 13 years. We'll be ready to go."

NOTES
• The Marauders have won 11 of their last 13 games.
• For the third time this season, Millersville has lost the first game of a series but won the rest (against Barton, Goldey-Beacom, and Le Moyne.)
• Luke Trainer has improved his batting average to .415 (second on the team to Jimmy Losh's .492) and leads the team with 22 RBIs.
 
UP NEXT
• The Marauders begin PSAC play with a series against Lock Haven University. The teams are scheduled to play a single nine-inning game at Lock Haven on Friday, March 13 beginning at 2 p.m. The series then shifts to Cooper Park in Millersville for a doubleheader on Saturday, March 14 beginning at 1 p.m. that will feature one seven-inning game and one nine-inning game.