MILLERSVILLE, Pa. – As fate would have it, for the seventh consecutive season, the Millersville Marauders baseball team has won three out of four games over East Stroudsburg in the teams' regular season series. Saturday afternoon's doubleheader kicked off with a Ville victory, 8-6, while ESU bounced back in the second game with a 7-3 win thanks to a solid starting pitching effort from Connor Johnson (5.2 IP, 1 ER, 4 H, 5 strikeouts) and a pinch-hit grand slam from freshman Jerome Repetz to put the game out of reach.
 
Millersville's Jeff Taylor was on the mound to begin game one of the day and responded with a solid effort, going five innings, allowing one earned run, and striking out five to earn his third win of the season. Christian Wingard was clutch out of the bullpen late in the game, entering in the top of the sixth inning with only one out after East Stroudsburg had scored five runs in the frame. Wingard got the final two outs in the sixth and pitched a scoreless seventh to notch his second save of 2021.
 
Offense was at a premium in game two, with the Marauders only managing two hits until the sixth inning. The team rallied, with RBIs from Bren Taylor and Luke Trainer bringing the team within a run, but the aforementioned Jerome Repetz grand slam quelched any hope of a comeback.
 
The Marauders also celebrated Senior Day at Cooper Park, with 10 seniors honored: Eric Callahan, Bobby Dorta, Bobby Dorta, Ioanni Kovack, Cole Miller, Mark Miller, Matt Stevenson, Wyatt Tyson, Aidan Welch, and Paul Wilson all were recognized for their contributions to the program.

GAME ONE (MILLERSVILLE 8, EAST STROUDSBURG 6)
• The Marauders came out swinging in the first inning, leading off the game with back-to-back singles from Cole Friese and Bren Taylor. They advanced to second and third on a Luke Trainer fly ball and then Jimmy Losh connected on another long drive for a sacrifice fly and the one-run lead. In the second inning, Tyler Wright slapped an RBI single through the left side of the infield to plate Darin Miller, who had reached on a single of his own, to make it a 2-0 game.
• There was no more scoring until the fifth inning. The Warriors put up a run with a bases-loaded walk from Brock Kauffman in the top half to pull his team within a run, but Eric Callahan led off the bottom of the fifth with a mammoth blast to left field that cleared the fence for his first home run of the season. Millersville proceeded to load the bases with a Wright bunt single, a Friese hit-by-pitch, and a Bren Taylor base knock. A fielder's choice from Trainer made it a 4-1 game, and the Ville increased that number to 7-1 after a Nick Mancuso bases-loaded walk and a two-run Pete Vaccaro single to right field.
• That margin would prove to be enough despite a five-run ESU sixth inning. Christian Wingard entered the game as the third pitcher of the inning to face the heart of the lineup after the Warriors had closed the gap to 7-6. After a Brock Kauffman walk, Wingard struck out Carson Freeman and induced a ground ball from Logan Stirr to escape the inning.
• Millersville added an insurance run in the bottom of the sixth. Cole Friese walked and stole second base and was promptly driven in by Bren Taylor with a single driven right up the middle of the field. Wingard returned in the top of the seventh, struck out two, and got Brainy Rojas to fly out to right field to end the game.

GAME TWO (EAST STROUDSBURG 7, MILLERSVILLE 3)
• East Stroudsburg built a three-run lead in the second inning that chased starter Wyatt Tyson from the game, but Andrew Mayhew entered and did not allow a run in his two innings of relief.
• Bren Taylor and Darin Miller were the only two Marauders to get a hit until the sixth inning, when Tyler Wright and Cole Friese forced their way onto the bases with two beautiful bunts. Taylor followed it up with an RBI double to right center that was just shy of a game-tying home run. Luke Trainer grounded out to bring Friese home to make it a 3-2 game.
• That is as close as the Marauders would come. Conor Cook pitched a solid two and two-thirds innings out of the bullpen but gave up two singles and a walk to load the bases in the top of the seventh. Bobby Dorta replaced him and was greeted with a Jerome Repetz pinch-hit moon shot grand slam to right field. The Marauders loaded the bases in the bottom of the seventh but JP Nolan entered the game for the Warriors and retired the side to end the game.
 
REACTION FROM COACH JON SHEHAN
• Thoughts from this weekend's series: "I thought all weekend the bats swung it very well. We situationally hit great in some spots but of course there are some spots you'd like to have back. I thought Jeff Taylor threw a very nice game three, but obviously the bullpen could have done a better job. We need to find that fourth starter, and if we do decide to go ahead and staff game four it's going to be dependent on how we pitch in game three. Overall, taking three out of four from a really good team is a positive.
• On figuring out the bullpen: "We have very good arms that need to have confidence in themselves. I think they're going to be successful, all they have to do it throw strikes. The stuff is really good, we just need to pound the zone. Once we get over that hump and they start believing in themselves a little bit we'll be fine."
• On honoring the seniors' contributions to the team: "There's some really good kids in that class. Some guys who have been consistently good for four or five years. There's too many to talk about them individually but we appreciate what they did for the program and what they continue to do for the program. It's weird to have Senior Day this early but because of COVID we had to get it out of the way and make sure we honor those guys. We're looking forward to what they do with their next steps in life."

NOTES
• Sophomore Bren Taylor has hit safely in every game in 2021, good for a 13-game hitting streak. His six hits in this weekend's series have increased his batting average to .511.
• Sophomore Darin Miller is in the midst of an eight-game hitting streak coinciding with his solidifying of the starting job at first base. During that span he is batting .346 and has five RBIs, eight runs scored, and two home runs.
• Luke Trainer caught both games behind the plate on Saturday and was still sharp in game two, throwing out three runners on the basepaths.

UP NEXT
• A four-game PSAC series with Shippensburg University is on the docket for next weekend beginning on Friday, April 2 at Cooper Park at 12 p.m.