MILLERSVILLE, Pa. - From Conor Cook on the mound to Jimmy Losh in the field to Luke Trainer at the plate, the Millersville Marauders made a play in every moment that mattered. That's what's needed this time of year, and that's why the Marauders will play for the PSAC Championship Saturday. Millersville improved to 3-0 in the conference tournament with a 6-1 win over longtime postseason rival Mercyhurst. 

No. 22 Millersville (40-12) received four RBIs from Trainer. He drew three walks, and his lone hit came in the biggest of spots--bases-loaded and two outs in the fourth. His hard-hit single cleared the bases, broke a 1-1 tie and gave the Marauders the lead for good.

Millersville never trailed in the game but only because of a brilliant defensive play by Losh in the top of the fourth. With two outs and runners on first and second, Laker leadoff hitter Casimer Sobaszek hit a single up the middle, just beyond Cook's outstretched glove. The ball seemed destined to roll to the center fielder, but Losh, ranging to his right, snared the ball with an all-out dive. He quickly sprang to his feet and fired a one-hopper to catcher John Seibert, who tagged out Philip Ferranti for the third out of the inning. 

"That play changed the game in more ways than one," said Millersville head coach Jon Shehan.

Both Ferranti and Seibert were ejected for the collision at the plate, and Millersville, already down a catcher after starter Cole Houser was hit with a pitch in the second inning, moved Trainer from first to behind the plate. That was no problem for Trainer, who ended the fifth by throwing out a runner following a swinging strike three delivered by Cook. 

Cook (5-3) battled for six innings. Against a Mercyhurst lineup that hit 88 home runs and won its first two games of the tournament exclusively with the long ball, Cook always found a way to limit the damage. After Jack Elliott's double off the wall in the first inning, Cook struck out the next batter and escaped the inning. The Lakers put two on in the third, but Cook got a fly out and strikeout. Mercyhurt loaded the bases with one out in the sixth, but Cook struck out the next two batters, rallying from a 2-0 count on the final out of the inning. Cook scattered seven hits while striking out a season-high 10 batters. 

"He is a competitor," said Shehan. "He wants the ball in these situations. He loves that he is going against a perennial regional contender in Mercyhurst and a good ball club. He could have easily folded and been intimidated after the first ball gets hit off the wall, but that's not Conor Cook. That just made him angry and he competes harder."

Nate Young entered in the seventh and flummoxed Mercyhurst's hitters with his sweeping slider. Young, who tossed 2 1/3 shutout innings against Slippery Rock just 24 hours earlier, was even better against the Lakers, striking out six in three scoreless innings. 

"Nate pitched the best high school game I've ever seen when we were recruiting him, and our goal was to get him here from George Mason and get him back into that type of stuff and confidence," said Shehan. "He is rolling right now. He's a tough match-up for anyone, and his slider is special."

Cook and Young held PSAC West Athlete of the Year Josh Surowiec and his .441 batting average and 17 homers to an 0-for-3, two-walk outing. The Lakers' only run came on John Susnik's solo homer in the second. 

For the third time in the tournament, Millersville scored first when Trainer pushed home Bren Taylor with an RBI ground out in the first. Trainer's sinking liner to left in the fourth careened off the glove of the diving outfielder, and Taylor, Losh and Tyler Wright all scored. Thomas Caufield, who was officially announced as the PSAC East Athlete of the Year near the end of the game, bounced back after strikeouts in his first four at bats with an RBI double in the seventh. Losh drew three walks and scored twice. Justin Taylor reached base three times with a single and two walks. Bren Taylor's streak of consecutive games with two or more hits extended to nine. 

NOTES
• Friday's game was the 16th postseason meeting between Millersville and Mercyhurst since 2011. Millersville now holds a 10-6 advantage and has won the last five PSAC Tournament meetings. 
• Trainer has reached base in 33 games in a row. Losh has reached base in 11-straight games and has scored at least one run in eight in a row. Caufield has driven in at least one run in each of the last eight games. 

UP NEXT
• The win over Mercyhurst put the Marauders one win away from their fifth PSAC Tournament championship and first since 2015. It is a true double-elimination scenario as the either East Strodusburg or Mercyhurst must beat Millersville twice on Saturday. This is a change in format from tournaments past. Millersville also reached the tournament's championship round in 2014, 2016 and 2018. Sunday's first pitch is scheduled for 11 a.m.