CHARLESTON, W.Va. - Millersville scored first but couldn't mount the rally it needed after top-seeded Seton Hill Griffins got a timely three-run home run Vincenzo Rauso and stellar outings from starter Ben Vicini and their bullpen. The Griffins topped the Marauders 5-2 to advance to the NCAA Atlantic Regional final round.

Millersville put at least one runner on base in seven of nine innings but stranded 12 runners. Millersville even out-hit the Griffins 10-8, but couldn't find the hit it needed. In the eighth, Chase Simmons drew a bases-loaded walk to pull Millersville within three, and the next batter, PSAC East Athlete of the Year Bren Taylor, blasted a 1-0 pitch to left-center field that was nabbed at the fence for the third out of the inning. 

"I think the at bats prior to that (two-out situation) are where we need to get better," said Millersville head coach Jon Shehan. "We swung at a lot of pitches out of the zone today, and that's not our M.O. We tried to do way too much in those situations. In big games, you have to step out that big-game feeling and get back to the process. We've done a great job this season drawing walks and swinging at our pitches, and today we didn't. We swung at a lot of fastballs up and out of the zone, and ultimately, that beat us."

PSAC East Pitcher of the Year Jeff Taylor's streak of consecutive starts with a win was stopped at 10, and Seton Hill can now claim responsibility for both losses on Taylor's otherwise sparkling 11-2 record. The Griffins scored six runs in two innings against Taylor in a 13-6 win on March 14. The Griffins took the lead for good in the third inning, when the first three batters started single, single double. With two outs, the score tied 1-1 and first base open, Millersville intentionally walked Derek Orndorff, but that proved costly as Rauso drew a bases-loaded walk that gave Seton Hill a 2-1 lead. 

Rauso again made the Marauders pay for free passes in the fifth. A walk and a hit batsman put two on base, and Rauso hit a two-out homer to straight-away center that just cleared the outstretched glove of Millersville center fielder Cole Friese. 

"Jeff just didn't finish guys today. He got to a lot of 1-2 counts that worked back to full counts. There were a couple of change-ups up that hurt him," said Shehan. "On the home run, not to make any excuses, but we are playing in a park without a warning track, and Friese makes that catch if he knows where he is at. He was two or three feet from the fence, and he thought he was on top of it. It's dangerous, but it's one of those things. We hit a ball to the the fence and they catch it, and they hit one that goes six inches over the fence."

In addition to the near-miss in the eighth, the Marauders also threatened in the top of the seventh. Tyler Wright and Bren Taylor singled and advanced to second and third on a groundout by Luke Trainer. Reliever Peyton Reeseman escaped the jam with a strikeout. 

Millersville's first run came in the second. Eric Callahan reached second base when Seton Hill misplayed an infield popup. He moved to third on a fly out and came home on Pete Vaccaro's single to left.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
• Vicini scattered five hits and walked two with three strikeouts over five innings, improving his pitching record to 6-1. Reeseman worked 2 1/3 with one run allowed, and Nash Bryan pitched 1 2/3, including a 1-2-3 ninth. 
• Taylor went seven innings, allowing five runs on eight hits and three walks while striking out three. Andrew Mayhew pitched a perfect bottom of the eighth for Millersville. 
• Vaccaro finished the game 3-for-4 with an RBI. Wright, Bren Taylor and Callahan each had two hits as well. 

QUOTABLE
•  "We've got a good starter going tonight in Conor Cook. We know Bloomsburg, not as much about Charleston. It's about staying positive, remembering that we have a stacked bullpen. We have a chance to come back, make some noise and finish this thing out." - Coach Jon Shehan

NOTES
• Millersville is 10-9 all-time against Seton Hill, but the Griffins have won five of the last seven meetings and hold a 4-3 edge in NCAA regional games. 
• Vaccaro has had at least one hit in each of his last seven starts and in all four of the postseason games he's started. He's driven in four runs in the team's five postseason games. 

UP NEXT
• Millersville now faces an elimination game Saturday evening at 7 p.m., playing the winner of the 3 p.m., Charleston/Bloomsburg game. Seton Hill advances to the regional championship round and awaits the winner of the 7 p.m. game.