MILLERSVILLE, Pa. - East Stroudsburg hit the Millersville Marauders with a staggering blow and Charleston landed the knockout punch, ending Millersville's remarkable season in the NCAA Atlantic Regional on a sweltering Saturday at Cooper Park.

Both East Stroudsburg and Charleston pummeled the Marauders, scoring a combined 29 runs, and Millersville got a total of 2 1/3 innings from its two starting pitchers. It was a stunning 18 innings after Millersville had not allowed more than six runs in any game during its recent 10-game winning streak that included a run to a PSAC Tournament title.

The Warriors, with a 12-7 win, and the Golden Eagles, with a 17-5 win, exacted measures of revenge against Millersville. Millersville won its PSAC Championship a week ago with the Warriors looking on, and it was Millersville that ended Charleston's season on the Golden Eagles' home turf in the 2021 Atlantic Regional.

"It just seemed like when the wheels came off, the car blew up with it," said Millersville head coach Jon Shehan. "We really relied on our starters to get going the last couple of weeks, and we got 2.1 out of our starters. That put us in a hole."

Despite the five-run margin in the final score, it never seemed as if Millersville was out the day's first game against East Stroudsburg. After the Warriors scored three in bottom of the first, Jimmy Losh hit an opposite field homer in the second to tie the game. But the Warriors' bats, which piled up 14 runs in their first regional game a day earlier, were relentless. Millersville trailed just 6-5 entering the bottom of the fourth but ESU struck for three runs on four hits, and then answered a Luke Trainer solo homer in the fifth with three runs on two walks, a hit batsman and a Tommy Dunleavy double. Dunleavy delivered four RBIs in the game and both of his hits went for extra bases.

Millersville came up empty in the final three innings, and the loss dimmed Bren Taylor's 4-for-5 outing.

With the temperatures reaching into the 90s on the hottest day of 2022, it seemed an impossible task to rally in an elimination game that started just 45 minutes after the final out of game one. Charleston made it a reality.

"Not to make any excuses, but to turn around and play two consecutive nine-inning games against two really good teams is a tough thing to do, and we didn't answer," said Shehan. "It wasn't impossible, but it was really tough, especially with the uphill climb we had with the pitching staff. In order to win two consecutive games, you've got to have two arms who are well rested and can give the guys in the field a break. That was a long day out there."

The Golden Eagles had scored just one run in a win over Gannon Friday, but jumped on the Marauders early, scoring in the first after a couple of singles and a wild pitch. Millersville went down in order in the bottom of the first, and Charleston started the second with back-to-back doubles and took the wind out of the already weary Marauders with three runs on five hits. Charleston led 8-0 in the third, and while Millersville scored three runs in the inning, UC starter Ethan Soderna stranded the bases loaded with a fly out for perhaps the biggest out of the game.

Charleston's Jordan Bailey and Brayden McCallister combined for eight of Charleston's 17 hits. It was the most runs allowed by a Millersville team since March 10, 2018, and the second-most runs ever allowed at Cooper Park.

Charleston staved off elimination and now faces East Stroudsburg Sunday at Cooper Park, needing to beat the Warriors twice to extend its season.

Millersville capped its season with a 42-14 record, becoming the just the sixth team in program history to win 40 games in a season. It played the vast majority of the season without three-fourths of what it had hoped would be its starting rotation but still brought home hardware even after a stretch of losing four-straight PSAC East games in the middle of the season.

"This group was resilient," said Shehan. "There was a time about six weeks ago when Coach (David) Baker and I sat in the office and said, 'it's time to go recruiting.' Things weren't going our way. We had 10 injuries that were six weeks or more. We lost four potential conference starters. There's no excuses. We won a championship with that because the kids were resilient. I'm really proud of them. We ran out of steam, but to win a conference championship and 42 games with the amount of injuries and adversity we had is a great story."

The senior class departs with three PSAC East titles, four NCAA Tournament appearances and a conference championship—Millersville's first since 2015.

Among the seniors was Luke Trainer, who was subbed in for with two outs in the top of the ninth and received a rousing ovation from the Marauder faithful. Trainer was a three-time All-PSAC East First Team selection at three different spots, and the smooth-swinging left-hander played 208 games—sixth most in Millersville history—while setting all-time records for RBIs with 193 and walks with 123. He also ranks fifth in hits (233), fifth in doubles, 10^th in runs (146) and 11^th in home runs.

"I love that kid," said Shehan. "I remember (former Millersville catchers) Ben Snyder and John Turner pushing him so hard. He became a leader. It's going to be one of those swings that's just etched in your mind forever. I'm proud of him. A great career."

Millersville appearance in the NCAA Atlantic Regional was its ninth in a row—an active streak unmatched by any other team in the region. When it's season ended Saturday, Millersville was the only team in the region with 40 wins and was one of only two teams nationally-ranked.