MILLERSVILLE, Pa. – The Millersville University baseball team scored a combined 25 runs against Bloomsburg on Saturday to take both games of the PSAC East doubleheader by scores of 9-1 and 16-8. A large part of the offensive load was carried by fifth-year senior Cole Friese, who hit two home runs out of the cleanup spot as he continues to chase the program's all-time mark.
 
Starting pitchers Jeff Taylor in game one and Paul Wilson in game two put together another pair of impressive performances to shut down Bloomsburg's offense. Taylor (6-1) earned his fifth straight win of 2021 and has pitched 31 innings during that stretch with an ERA of 2.03 and 36 strikeouts. For the season, opposing batters are hitting .211 against him. Wilson (4-1) threw five innings, giving up two hits, two walks, two runs, and striking out seven as he continues to round back into form in his second start back from an extended layoff.
 
The Marauders' overall record improves to 19-9 (16-7 in PSAC play) and they remain in first place in the PSAC East standings with two conference series remaining (versus Mansfield next weekend and Kutztown the week after to close out the regular season.)
 
GAME ONE (MILLERSVILLE 9, BLOOMSBURG 1)
• Sophomore Bren Taylor opened the scoring in the bottom of the third with a two-run homer to right field, his third of the season. The Marauders kept the inning going with a Luke Trainer walk followed by Cole Friese reaching on a fielder's choice. Friese stole second and was promptly driven in by Eric Callahan with a single up the middle to make it a 3-0 game.
• Bloomsburg pulled a run back in the bottom of the third with an RBI from Kyle Ofier as he grounded into a double play with runners on the corners and no one out. The Marauders gladly traded a run for two outs and Taylor escaped the jam with the game remaining 3-1.
• Millersville broke the game open in the fourth inning. Jimmy Losh led it off with a walk, then three straight hits from Bren Taylor (single), Trainer (double that brought home Losh), and Friese (bunt single). Callahan connected on a sacrifice fly to plate Trainer and Justin Taylor roped an RBI single to bring home Friese and make it 7-1.
• Friese's bat came through again in the fifth inning with a 2-run blast to center field to increase the Ville advantage to eight runs. Jeff Taylor came back out in the seventh inning and retired Bloomsburg 1-2-3 to seal the 9-1 win.
 
GAME TWO (MILLERSVILLE 16, BLOOMSBURG 8)
• The Marauders put up a six-spot in the top of the second inning to take control of game two early on. Eric Callahan and Justin Taylor both walked to begin the frame and Nick Mancuso singled home Callahan for the first run of the game. Tyler Wright stroked a two-run single to make it 3-0, and a Jimmy Losh RBI single and a Luke Trainer home run to left field on a 1-0 pitch pushed the Millersville lead to six runs.
• The fourth inning was also productive for Millersville, as eight Marauders came around the bases to score. Cole Friese connected on his second home run of the day to make it 9-0, and five total walks in the inning spelled trouble for the Bloomsburg pitching staff—as did a Bren Taylor two-run double to left field to make it 14-0. All of the runs in the inning were unearned.
• Bloomsburg tried to rally late, scoring four runs in the bottom of the seventh inning, but Wyatt Tyson entered the game to record the final two outs (both strikeouts) to secure the sweep for the Ville.

REACTION FROM ASSISTANT COACH DAVID BAKER
•On today's 25-run performance: "We swung it well today, had a lot of great at-bats, and worked a lot of counts in our favor. In situational hitting we were 17-of-17 on the day. When we're doing all those things, the offense is rolling."
•On Jeff Taylor and Paul Wilson's consistency: "We always like our chances when we have Jeff and Paul. They went out and shut down Bloomsburg's momentum from yesterday real quick in game one and it carried over to game two."
•On rounding into form for the home stretch of the regular season: "I think we're playing pretty well right now. The offense is definitely getting going and our starting pitching has been strong. (Ben) Wilchacky and (Conor) Cook have really stepped up the last couple of weeks and the bullpen is starting to figure some things out. Two weeks left, two big series coming up, and it'll be a race to see who goes out and wins the East."

NOTES
• Cole Friese's two home runs on the day were his fifth and team-high sixth of the season (making it 25 in his career) and now gives him sole possession of second place on the program's all-time list. Cole is now just one away from tying Ryan Brink (1997-00) for the all-time home run crown.
• With at least one hit in both games today, Jimmy Losh increased his hitting streak to 11 straight games.
• The Marauders scored 38 runs in the four-game series with Bloomsburg, the highest combined run total in any series in 2021. The previous high was 33 runs scored in the West Chester series.
• Millersville batters drew a season-high 12 walks in game two and 7 in game one. The combined total of 19 in one doubleheader is by far the highest this season, with the second-most being 12 combined walks against Lock Haven University in a pair of games on March 21.

UP NEXT
• Millersville will make the trip to Mansfield University to begin a four-game series on Friday, April 30. First pitch for game one is scheduled for 12 p.m.