CHARLESTON, W.Va. - Millersville baseball entered Sunday's NCAA Atlantic Regional championship round facing the Herculean task of knocking off the region's No. 1 seed and the nation's No. 13-ranked Seton Hill Griffins twice. The day started right for the Marauders as they raced to a 4-1 lead, but the Griffins rode a wave of momentum in the middle innings to an 8-5 win, advancing to the NCAA Division II Championship tournament for the first time since 2014 and ending Millersville's season. 

Millersville finished the campaign 30-15, while Seton Hill and its 38-6 record move on to Cary, N.C., with the nation's seven other regional winners. Sunday marked the fifth time since 2011 that the Marauders reached the regional's championship round. During the regular season, Millersville won the PSAC Eastern Division for the seventh time since 2011. 

"If you would have told me that Alex Mykut, arguably the best pitcher in the conference, goes down halfway through season, we have a 10-day COVID layoff, and we are starting freshman on the weekend, I never would have thought we would have been in this position," said Millersville coach Jon Shehan. "No excuses, though. We have a very talented club. We had a chance to win it at the end, and it's where we need to be every year."

The Marauder bats, quieted for eight total runs in their first three regional games, sparked the early lead. Pete Vaccaro hit his second home run of the season in the second, and in the third, Tyler Wright and Jimmy Losh hit back-to-back singles to start a three-run inning. Bren Taylor sacrificed the two into scoring position. Luke Trainer drew a five-pitch walk to load the bases. Then, Cole Friese pushed a bunt down the third-base line. Friese's speed forced a rushed through to first, and the ball skipped down the right field line. All three Marauder runners scored. However, Millersville's positive momentum was quickly quelled with outs on the base paths. With Friese on second, Callahan singled to center. Friese was waved home but was pegged at the plate on a pinpoint throw from center fielder Derek Orndorff. Callahan was then thrown out stealing to end the inning. 

Playing its fourth game in as many days, and already dinged up in its rotation, Millersville called on freshman Harry Prince to make his first start and third appearance of the season. The rookie looked anything but, limiting the PSAC's top-hitting lineup to two hits and an unearned run in three innings. He was pulled after facing 11 batters and throwing 57 pitches, and Seton Hill jumped on the Marauders' bullpen. The game changed in a span of three batters and six pitches. Orndorff, the second batter of the fourth, hit a homer to straight-away center. Tommy Pellis was hit by a pitch, and Jordan Fiedor hit the first pitch he saw for a two-run homer, tying the game, 4-4. 

Even with the middle of the lineup at the plate in the top of the fifth, Millersville could not retaliate. Seton Hill's bats kept rolling in the fifth. Back-to-back one out singles and a walk set-up a two-run double from Pellis, the PSAC West Athlete of the Year. Fiedor followed with a two-run single to center. 

Millersville chipped into Seton Hill's lead in the eighth. Vaccaro and Justin Taylor both singled. After a pitching change, Mark Miller hit a come-backer to reliever Jared Kollar. Kollar spun to throw to second to start a double play, but his throw sailed high, and the error brought Vaccaro home. The rally was short-lived, however, as Kollar immediately rolled a 6-4-3 double-play to end the inning. Seton Hill cobbled together the final six innings after starter Jon McCullough was chased after three. Cade Negley tossed 1 1/3 shutout innings. Caiden Wood was credited with one unearned run in three innings. Kollar, who made seven starts on the season, was utilized as a reliever for the first time and earned his first save. 

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
• Bren Taylor, Vaccaro and Justin Taylor led Millersville with two hits apiece. Trainer reached twice via walk. 
• Millersville used five pitchers in the game. Christian Wingard pitched a scoreless seventh, and Wyatt Tyson pitched a scoreless eighth. 
• Orndorff and Fiedor both went 3-for-4 for the Griffins. Fiedor drove in five runs. 

QUOTABLE
• Shehan on the senior class: "What stands out is hard work. Callahan was a type of kid who was in the cage early in the morning. They set that standard for the younger guys. Good kids. We never had issues off the field with these guys. I can't remember anything that's come up. They've kept our culture in place and protected us. That's all you can really ask. They've had great careers. A guy like Cole Friese set our home run record. We've got some good records in our program, so when you have some guys breaking records, you know they are good players."

NOTES
• Millersville entered Sunday's games ranked No. 28 nationally in the Collegiate Baseball (coaches) poll, and No. 20 in the NCBWA poll. Millersville was nationally-ranked for six of 12 weeks in the coaches poll. 
• Seton Hill won all three meetings with Millersville in 2021--one in the regular season and two in the regional. The all-time series is now split at 10-10, but Seton Hill has won six of the last eight. 
• Bren Taylor went 4-for-8 in the two regional games against Seton Hill and finished the regional 6-for-15. Vaccaro went 5-for-8 with two RBIs in the two Seton Hill games, and had at least one hit and one RBI in three of the four games.