MILLERSVILLE, Pa. – Two standout starting pitching performances from Millersville baseball's Jeff Taylor and Paul Wilson stymied West Chester University and allowed the Marauders to win a pair of games, 5-1 and 14-3. The Ville took three of four games from the Golden Rams to win this weekend's PSAC East series and finished the week with six wins and just one loss.
 
The offense was carried by the lineup's veteran hitters on the day, with Cole Friese, Eric Callahan, and Luke Trainer combining for eight hits and 13 RBIs. Friese and Mark Miller launched the team's only home runs of the day, both out to left field, and both in important spots of the games.
 
Taylor and Wilson mowed down the West Chester lineups by pounding the strike zone and using their off-speed pitches effectively. Taylor went six innings, struck out nine, allowing four hits and an earned run to pick up his fifth win of 2021. Wilson returned to the mound and logged five-and-a-third innings, giving up just two hits, a walk, and two earned runs while striking out seven to improve his record to 3-1.
 
Millersville's overall record improves to 15-7 (12-5 in PSAC play) with six more conference games (two versus Shippensburg and a four-game series with Bloomsburg) on the schedule next week.
 
GAME ONE (MILLERSVILLE 5, WEST CHESTER 1)
• The Marauders got on the board early in game one, with Bren Taylor drawing a walk and taking off for a steal attempt that forced an errant throw from the catcher, sailing into centerfield and letting Bren end up on third base. Luke Trainer got the job done with a ground ball to the right side to bring Taylor home for the quick 1-0 lead.
• The game was broken open in the bottom of the fourth inning, led off by a Cole Friese single into right center. He swiped second base to get into scoring position and advanced to third after a Justin Taylor fly ball. Eric Callahan was hit by a pitch and stole second as well to put ducks on the pond for Nick Mancuso, who came through with a hard shot to the third baseman to bring home Friese for a 2-0 lead. After a Mark Miller walk to load the bases, Tyler Wright was hit by a pitch to earn an RBI and bring home Callahan. Jimmy Losh was the next batter and drew a walk to earn an RBI of his own to make it a 4-0 game.
• The only other Millersville run came in the bottom of the sixth, when Mark Miller gave a pitch a ride way out to left field for a solo homer (his third of the season and first non-pinch-hit home run) for a five-run advantage.
 
GAME TWO (MILLERSVILLE 14, WEST CHESTER 3)
• The Marauders once again got off to a quick start, with Jimmy Losh leading off the bottom of the first with a double to right field and scoring after a Luke Trainer base knock. Friese (batting in the cleanup spot) walloped a fly ball to left for his third homer of 2021 and 22^nd career as a Marauder to give the team a 3-0 lead.
• Millersville plated two more runs in the bottom of the third thanks to an Eric Callahan RBI double and a Justin Taylor sacrifice fly but the huge inning finally arrived in the fourth. Mark Miller led it off with a single through the left side and the bases were loaded after a Tyler Wright walk and a Bren Taylor bunt single. Trainer and Friese drew back-to-back walks to score two more runs, then Callahan hit a ball down the left field line to drive in another two for the 9-0 lead.
• Trainer, Friese, and Callahan each picked up at least one more RBI in the bottom of the fifth. The batters ahead of them loaded the bases with a Tyler Wright double, a Losh single, and a Bren Taylor walk. Trainer grounded out to the first baseman to bring home Wright, then Friese and Callahan whacked a pair of singles to bring home the rest to put the Ville up by thirteen runs.
 
REACTION FROM ASSISTANT COACH DAVID BAKER
•On today's pitching efforts from Jeff Taylor and Paul Wilson: "This whole year we've pretty much known what we're going to get from those two. They throw a ton of strikes and they're going to attack hitters. Jeff sort of ran out of gas in the seventh but Wyatt Tyson's been our guy after (Christian) Wingard and out of the pen he's gotten a lot of outs and he was really big for us today. Paul threw really well for his first game back and kept his pitch count down. He probably had enough pitches to go seven but we got (Matt) Stevenson and (Bob) Dorta in the game for some work, so the pitching staff did well all weekend in some tough situations."
•On Friese and Callahan's efforts in game two: "Those fifth-year guys are veterans and have been struggling here and there. When they get it going like they did today the offense is really scary. They're going to get on base and run, so then we can do more things and have some options on the bases, which is great."
•On looking forward to six more games next week: "Right now we're excited. There are no easy series in the conference so we can enjoy this one for now but need to get it going again for Tuesday. The next six games are huge. We'll come out ready to go."

NOTES
• Cole Friese's home run was the 22^nd of his Millersville career and ties him with Derek Kline (2008-11) for fourth-most on the all-time program list. Ryan Brink (1997-00) is the all-time leader with 26 homers.  
• Millersville's 14 runs in game two is the second-highest total of the season, second only to a season-opening 18 runs in a victory against Clarion University.
• The Marauders have once again won three games in a row, a feat that they have accomplished five times in 2021. On each occasion they have been denied a fourth consecutive win.

UP NEXT
• Millersville completes the PSAC East series with Shippensburg University with a doubleheader on the road on Tuesday, April 20 with first pitch scheduled for 1 p.m. The Marauders won the first two games of the series against the Raiders which were played last Tuesday, April 13.