MILLERSVILLE, Pa. – The Millersville Marauders received two exceptional starting pitching efforts from Alex Mykut and Paul Wilson and swept Saturday's PSAC East doubleheader 13-0 and 2-1 over Lock Haven University. It was the first conference doubleheader of the season for Millersville and the first for the squad since May of 2019.
 
Mykut went the distance in game one for the shutout, scattering eight hits and striking out seven to earn his third win of the season. The Ville's bats came to life and built up a big lead behind multi-hit efforts from sophomore Bren Taylor (3-4, 2 RBIs), Pete Vaccaro (2-3, one run scored), and third baseman Tyler Wright (2-2, RBI, two runs scored) who also earned his first two starts of the season at the hot corner.
 
Game two was far more dramatic. A pitching duel broke out between Paul Wilson (6.2 IP, two hits allowed, one earned run, and eight strikeouts) and Lock Haven's Kyler Mellott (7 IP, six strikeouts). Wilson surrendered a home run to Joe Shannon in the top of the second inning while Mellott was tagged for two unearned runs in the bottom of the fourth—and that was all the scoring that was to be had, as Christian Wingard entered the game in the top of the seventh to record one out and earn the third save of his career.
 
GAME ONE (MILLERSVILLE 13, LOCK HAVEN 0)
• The Marauders got on the scoreboard in the bottom of the second inning after Nick Mancuso was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded to collect the RBI and the 1-0 lead. Tyler Wright followed it up with a sacrifice fly to left field to make it 2-0.
• Jimmy Losh led off the bottom of the third with a walk and promptly stole second base to get in scoring position. Two batters later, Bren Taylor stroked a single up the middle to plate Losh and make it a 3-0 game.
• Millersville broke the game open in the fourth inning. Three straight singles (from Darin Miller, Mancuso, and Wright) loaded the bases, and Cole Friese smacked another long fly ball for the sacrifice that made it 4-0. Losh knocked in two more runs with a single of his own, while Luke Trainer followed it up with a double to deep center field that allowed Losh to score and increase the Ville's lead to seven runs.
• The Marauders added five more runs in the fifth inning and one more in the sixth thanks to a Zach Chowansky double down the left field line that brought home Mark Miller, who had pinch hit and singled to lead off the inning.

GAME TWO (MILLERSVILLE 2, LOCK HAVEN 1)
• Millersville starter Paul Wilson struck out three of the first five batters he faced, but the sixth batter, LHU's Joe Shannon, got hold of one and sent it deep to left field over the fence for a solo home run. It was one of only two hits Wilson would give up in the game.
• The Bald Eagles held the lead until the bottom of the fourth inning, when the Marauders finally got to starter Kyler Mellott the second time through the lineup. Bren Taylor sent a hotshot to the shortstop, who backhanded the ball but couldn't field it cleanly, allowing Taylor to make it to first base. With two outs, Darin Miller launched a ball deep to left center that no outfielder got to, notching an RBI triple to tie the game 1-1. Freshman Cole Houser stepped in and made solid contact again into the gap in left, a no-doubt-about-it double that plated Miller and put the Marauders in front.
• There was plenty of drama to be had in the top of the seventh inning, as Wilson tried to finish out the game. Wilson quickly got two strikes on Jake Mastillo and thought he had struck him out but it was ruled a foul tip instead, allowing Mastillo to later draw the walk and represent the tying run. Wilson got Isaac Porter to fly out to left and Garrett Nepert to strike out looking. After another walk (this time to Joe Shannon, who had homered earlier), coach Jon Shehan made the call to the bullpen and Christian Wingard, opting for the lefty-lefty matchup with batter Blaise Zeiders. Wingard's first pitch hit Zeiders but was ruled a strike after the umpires deemed that Zeiders leaned into the ball. Zeiders then grounded sharply to shortstop, but Eric Callahan made a diving play to his left and flipped it over to Losh at second for the force out to end the game.
 
REACTION FROM COACH JON SHEHAN
• On bouncing back from back-to-back losses: "We talked a lot this week, especially to the upperclassman, about playing the game they're capable of. Not trying to do too much and just staying in the process. Today we situationally hit, played good defense, and got ahead all day from a pitching aspect. That's Marauder baseball in a nutshell and I'm much happier how we came out compared to last weekend."
• On the starting pitching performances of Alex Mykut and Paul Wilson: "We know both those guys are capable of starts like those. I think Paul is starting to believe in himself and realize how good he can be. Mykut has that confidence and got ahead in the count against almost everyone. He gave up some two-strike hits but that happens when you've always got two strikes on everybody. I was really pleased with how both of them threw. We let our defense play and worked ahead all day."
• On clutch pitches in the seventh inning: "In 2011 we brought the "so what" mantra in and that came up a lot this week. Paul could have easily folded there in the seventh—he thought he had a strikeout and the umpires disagreed. But he made some tough pitches and got through it. Same with Wingard, he hit the guy, sure, and maybe you start questioning your confidence. Instead, he makes quality pitches and finds a way out. That's what it's all about—say "so what?" and move on to the next pitch."

NOTES
• Freshmen Zach Chowansky and Cole Houser both recorded their first collegiate hits on Saturday.
• Cole Friese's stolen base in game two gives him 64 career steals (moving him into sole possession of fifth place on the all-time program list, 18 behind Dan Neff in fourth place.) 
• Bren Taylor's four combined hits on the day ties him with Trainer for the team lead (12 total.) Both players have also scored nine runs.

UP NEXT
• The action switches locations to Lock Haven University for another PSAC East doubleheader on Sunday, March 21. First pitch is scheduled for 1 p.m.