MILLERSVILLE, Pa. – It may only be the second week of the 2021 season but the Millersville baseball team looks in mid-season form. The Marauders used an eight-run third inning to take control of Friday's home game against Chestnut Hill and went on to claim the 13-1 victory, Millersville's third straight to begin the spring.
 
Starting pitcher Alex Mykut picked up his second win of the year after tossing six strong innings, scattering four hits and striking out nine. Mykut worked quickly (as is his trademark), threw 89 pitches, and did not allow a run.
 
At the plate, senior catcher Luke Trainer continued his historic stretch of at-bats, going 4-for-4 with an RBI and two runs scored. In his last 19 at-bats dating back to the spring of 2020, he has accrued 18 hits (eight for extra bases), 18 RBIs, and scored 12 runs. There are not enough superlatives to describe how reliable Luke has been in the batter's box.
 
Three other Marauders finished with multi-hit games: Cole Friese (2-5 with a home run, three RBIs, and two runs scored), Eric Callahan (3-5, two RBIs, two runs), and sophomore Chase Simmons (2-3, one RBI, one run) who began the game in right field to earn his second career start.

HOW IT HAPPENED
• It was all zeroes on the scoreboard until the bottom of the third inning, when the Marauders' bats came alive. Cole Friese (leadoff double to right center) and Jimmy Losh (walk) both reached to set the table for Trainer, who singled through the right side to bring home the first run of the game. Cleanup batter Bren Taylor and Eric Callahan roped back-to-back singles to bring home two more runs and push the Ville advantage to three and chasing Chestnut Hill starter Thomas Hughes out of the game.
• The fun was just getting started in the inning. Chestnut Hill reliever Billy Bethel hit designated hitter Cole Houser with a pitch to load the bases, then relinquished a sacrifice fly to sophomore third baseman Justin Taylor. Chase Simmons dropped down a perfect bunt single to bring home Callahan and leave two men on the bases for Friese. Cole crushed a ball to deep left field for a three-run homer (his first of the season and 20^th in his career) to give the Marauders an 8-0 lead.
• Millersville scored a single run in each inning after that. Of note, Callahan tripled to knock in Trainer (after a leadoff double) in the 4^th, while solo home runs were launched by Losh in the 7^th and substitute Darin Miller in the 8^th.
• Ryan Jacobs, Bobby Dorta, Conor Cook, and Jacob Paulishak all got work out of the bullpen after Mykut exited the game. Dorta threw a scoreless frame while Cook and Paulishak both struck out two batters.

 REACTION FROM COACH JON SHEHAN
• On Alex Mykut's performance: "He was outstanding today. That's a guy that I think could be ready for professional baseball at some point here. He had his plus breaking ball today and got a lot of swings and misses."
• On Luke Trainer's continued success: "Luke's just good, that's what it really comes down to. It's not a fluke. He's not hot; he's good. He swings at good pitches, he doesn't miss when pitchers make mistakes and that's the mark of a pro. I hope he starts getting some looks because the last 20 at-bats going back to last year has just been incredible. He doesn't have any holes and has quality plate appearances every time he goes out there."
• On today's overall performance: "We did a really good job the second time through the lineup. We know offensively we're very consistent throughout the lineup and we're good from one to about 13 or 14 guys. You look at a guy like Darin Miller who got off to a great start last year, he's coming off the bench and it's a lot of fun to see a guy go up there and then almost hit a ball off the scoreboard. The offense is clicking and it's a lot of fun."  

NOTES
• Millersville has now won all five contests they have ever played versus Chestnut Hill by a combined run total of 52-19.
• The team's three-win start to 2021 equals its best since 2017, when the Marauders took three straight at Winston-Salem State. 
• Friese's home run (20 total in his career) moves him into a tie for seventh-most on the all-time Millersville list with Ben Snyder and Scott Kuhn. His six runs scored thus far in 2021 (159 total) have moved him up into a tie for sixth-most in school history with Zach Stone.
 
UP NEXT
• Millersville hits the road to Wild Things Park in Washington, Pa. on Saturday, March 13 to face Clarion University for the third time in 2021. They swept a pair of games from the Golden Eagles to open the season. First pitch for Saturday's game is scheduled for 1 p.m.