MILLERSVILLE, Pa. – Another typically fantastic Jeff Taylor starting pitching effort led to a game one win, 3-1, for the Millersville University baseball team—and a dramatic game two walk-off in the eighth inning, 6-5, made it a Saturday sweep of Mansfield University at Cooper Park. The Marauders' record improves to 21-9 (18-7 in conference play) to remain in first place in the PSAC East standings.
 
The game one pitching duel between Taylor and Mansfield ace Hunter DePrimo was contested at a quick pace, with the game only taking an hour-and-a-half. Taylor (who has won seven games in 2021, including his last six consecutive starts) went all seven innings, allowing four hits, one run, walking a batter, and striking out six in just 85 pitches. DePrimo tossed six total innings, struck out seven, but was tagged with two solo home runs from left-handed batters Pete Vaccaro and Tyler Wright and an additional RBI double from Vaccaro that ended up deciding the game. A solo shot from Mansfield's Tyler Melko was responsible for the Mounties' only run of the game.
 
The Marauders took control of game two early on thanks to back-to-back home runs from Luke Trainer and Cole Friese in the first inning, but Mansfield battled back to force extra innings and took the lead in the top of the eighth inning. Millersville reliever Wyatt Tyson limited the damage, escaped the jam, and picked up the first victory of his Marauder career after the team rallied in the bottom half of the inning. Eric Callahan doubled to bring home Friese to tie the game on a ball that almost left the ballpark, and Justin Taylor crushed a ball over the head of the center fielder to seal the game two win.
 
GAME ONE (MILLERSVILLE 3, MANSFIELD 1)
• Runs were few and far between in game one, but Pete Vaccaro (who had not had a hit since April 16) smashed the first pitch he saw in the game over the left field fence to give the Ville a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the second inning.
• In the third inning, it was another left-handed batter—third baseman Tyler Wright—who made solid contact with a deep fly to left field. Wright's shot barely tucked inside the foul pole for another solo homer (the first of his collegiate career) and a 2-0 lead.
• Mansfield's Tyler Melko cut the Millersville lead in half in the fourth inning with a round-tripper to center field, but Vaccaro again gave the Marauders some breathing room with an RBI double in the sixth inning that brought home Eric Callahan, who had singled and advanced on a Justin Taylor groundout to move into scoring position.
• Millersville starter Jeff Taylor looked just as sharp in the seventh inning as he did earlier in the game, striking out Assaf Lowengart and inducing two groundouts to pick up the victory.
 
GAME TWO (MILLERSVILLE 6, MANSFIELD 5 (EIGHT INNINGS)
• The balls continued to fly out of Cooper Park early on in game two. Bren Taylor was hit by a pitch in the bottom of the first inning and was immediately brought home by Luke Trainer, who crushed a ball to left field for a two-run bomb (his fourth of the season and team-high 34^th RBI.) Cole Friese was the next batter in the lineup and followed suit, sending one over the fence for a 3-0 lead, making it back-to-back jacks.
• More offense was generated from those players at the top of the lineup in the second inning, with a Trainer walk and a Friese single up the middle moving Trainer into scoring position. Eric Callahan stepped in and smacked a ball to right field to bring home Luke for the four-run lead.
• Mansfield responded with four runs of their own to tie the game, including a two-run homer from Assaf Lowengart in the third inning and two unearned runs in the fourth inning, where reliever Aidan Welch entered in relief of starter Paul Wilson and tallied three strikeouts in the inning to limit the damage.
• The game remained 4-4 until the top of eighth, when Mansfield broke the tie with a pair of bunt singles and a pair of walks, including one by Ben Osborne with the bases loaded to score Zach Spray and make it 5-4. Millersville responded in the bottom half off of Mansfield pitcher Scott Poulson, who had just entered the game. Poulson hit Friese to start the inning and was immediate tagged by Eric Callahan as the fifth-year shortstop lined one deep to left center that bounced off the base of the wall for a game-tying RBI double. The next batter was Justin Taylor, who connected on a no-doubt-about-it double over the head of the center fielder that kicked off an impromptu celebration on the basepaths after Callahan crossed home plate to win it for Millersville, 6-5.

REACTION FROM HEAD COACH JON SHEHAN
•On the game one performance: "Jeff did a fantastic job again and handled their lineup pretty well. We hit the ball hard into the wind and those lefties going opposite field was huge in that game. We only needed three runs against a good arm who has beaten a lot of good teams this year. DePrimo should get a lot of credit. His stuff is very good, swing-and-miss stuff, and we were happy to get that win."
•On game two: "I'm glad that I'm back because I would have had way too much to talk about with the team on FaceTime in the post-game circle. Just a lot of learning opportunities, we did not play well except in the first couple of innings. It comes down to situational hitting and the little things. We pitched okay but it comes down to bunt defense and bunt offense—and if we take care of those I think we're in good shape."

NOTES
• Cole Friese's home run in game two was the 26^th of his Millersville career and he has now tied Ryan Brink (1997-00) for the most home runs all-time in program history.
• Millersville has now won seven straight games versus Mansfield University and 10 of the last 12 meetings.
 
UP NEXT
• Two more games with the Mountaineers are on deck for Sunday, May 2 and they will be played at Cooper Park—making it a four-game homestand due to poor field conditions at Mansfield. First pitch for game one is scheduled for 12 p.m.