SHIPPENSBURG, Pa. – Shippensburg University's baseball team rallied in game two of Tuesday's doubleheader to earn the 6-5 win and a split with Millersville, who had won game one 10-4 earlier in the day. The Marauders still won the series 3-1, a feat which they have repeated three other times in PSAC East play in the 2021 season.

Sophomore starting pitcher Ben Wilchacky registered the first collegiate victory of his career in game one after going four-and-two-thirds innings and striking out two.
Aidan Welch relieved Wilchacky in the fifth inning to earn the rare seven-out save, the second of his career. He also earned one on April 6, 2019 versus Kutztown University.

Game two featured some unusual situations, including a close play at home plate on what turned out to be the game-winning run from Shippensburg after a balk and a fly ball to left field.

Millersville's overall record moves to 16-8 (13-6 in conference play), which, for the moment, still keeps the team in first place in the PSAC East standings.
 
GAME ONE (MILLERSVILLE 10, SHIPPENSBURG 4)
• Shippensburg knocked in the first run of the game courtesy of a Justin Darden RBI single in the bottom of the first, but the Marauders responded with a big inning in the top of the third. Tyler Wright led off the frame with a single to left and Jimmy Losh also reached with a surprise bunt single. Luke Trainer smashed a ball to left center to bring home Wright to tie the game, and later in the inning Eric Callahan came through with a two-out base knock to drive in two more for a 3-1 lead. Callahan came home to score after a Justin Taylor strikeout caused mass confusion in the Shippensburg infield, with a throwing error by the catcher sailing wide and allowing the Ville to go up 4-1.
• Millersville added another run in the fourth inning thanks to some additional miscues by the Raider defense. Losh doubled on a 3-1 pitch to left center and Trainer drew a walk on a wild pitch to put two men on and advance Losh, and another throwing error by the Shippensburg catcher on a Trainer steal brought home a run to make it 5-2.
• Insurance runs were added in the fifth inning for Millersville, with Callahan leading it off with a walk and a stolen base. Justin Taylor brought him in with a single to left field and later scored on a Wright sacrifice fly that put the Ville up by five runs. The hit parade continued in the sixth, as Nick Mancuso smacked a RBI double to plate Cole Friese and Cole Houser came through with two-run single to put the Marauders up 10-4.
 
GAME TWO (SHIPPENSBURG 6, MILLERSVILLE 5)
• Jacob Paulishak started the game on the mound and struck out the first four batters he faced. He got some run support in the top of the second, with Eric Callahan doubling and Nick Mancuso walking to put some runners on the bases. Mark Miller singled to left after an eight pitch at-bat to plate Callahan and Tyler Wright doubled to bring home Miller and Mancuso for the 3-0 lead.
• In the top of the fifth inning a Shippensburg error that allowed Bren Taylor to score and a sacrifice fly from Cole Friese gave the Marauders a 5-1 lead. The Raiders answered back in the bottom half, facing three Ville relievers and scoring four runs to tie the game—the key hit being JuJu Cason's triple to right field that scored a pair of runs.
• Shippensburg took the lead in the in the bottom of the sixth after a one-out balk call on Millersville's Wyatt Tyson advanced Nick Zanic to third base and he was driven in on a sac fly by Joe Barbera that ended up being a very close bang-bang play at home plate to put Shippensburg up 6-5.
•Jimmy Losh led off the top of the seventh with a double but the Marauders could not bring him home, as Shippensburg reliever Noah Nabholz finished his five-and-one-third innings of work with a strikeout of Cole Friese to end the game. Nabholz only allowed one earned run and struck out seven.
 
REACTION FROM ASSISTANT COACH DAVID BAKER
•On today's split: "At the end of the day we're definitely happy to win the series. There were some tough plays and tough moments in the last two or three innings of the second game today—a play at the plate that could have gone either way, we had a ball bounce over the right fielder's head, just some freak stuff. That's baseball and you can't really control it but we didn't play well enough to win."
•On the bottom of the lineup (Mancuso, Miller, Wright) contributing: "Any time you can get production out of the bottom part of the order and get those guys on for the top of the order it's huge for us. Those guys have been swinging it well the last couple of games and are really helping us out."
•On looking forward to Bloomsburg this weekend: "Everyone's ready to go. Paul Wilson came back last week so the starting pitching looks good. No midweek games next week, so the arms are ready to go and it'll be a good series."

NOTES
• Every player in the game one starting lineup had at least one hit, including Nick Mancuso, who had his first three-hit game of the season and raised his average to .318. Mark Miller was 3-for-3 in game two with an RBI and a run scored—with Tyler Wright adding three hits and three RBIs combined between both games—as the bottom of the lineup continues to produce offense.
• Millersville's game one win pushed its win streak to four games, its longest of the season. The team had last won five straight games during the 2020 season from February 29 to March 3, but was denied equaling that mark by Shippensburg's game two victory today.

UP NEXT
• Millersville returns to Cooper Park on Friday, April 23 to begin a four-game series with the Huskies of Bloomsburg University. First pitch at the Coop is scheduled for 12 p.m.