ABOUT THE SERIES

• Millersville baseball hosts Chestnut Hill for a doubleheader on Thursday and Goldey-Beacom for two on Saturday. The Marauders are ranked No. 18 in the NCBWA Division II Poll and No. 2 in the NCBWA Atlantic Region Poll. Perfect Game Baseball has the Marauders at No. 9 in Division II. Last weekend, Millersville won all three games in Glenville, W.Va., beating Mercyhurst, Pitt-Johnstown and Glenville State. Millersville is 3-0 at home so far this season with two one-run wins. 
• Chestnut Hill enters Thursday's doubleheader with just four games played and sitting at 0-4. The Griffins had posted winning records in five-straight seasons before going 20-24 in 2022. Goldey-Beacom is off to a 7-2 start after going 27-25 with a CACC Tournament appearance in 2022 and a 21-9 record and NCAA Tournament berth in 2021. Both Chestnut Hill's Robert Spratt and Goldey-Beacom's Tom Riley started their programs from the ground up. Spratt and the Griffins' first year was in 2008--the same year Jon Shehan started at Millersville. Riley has led Goldey-Beacom since 2017. 

SCOUTING THE MARAUDERS

• Bren Taylor had an epic weekend in Glenville, going 11-for-16 with a .722 on base percentage over three games. He went 5-for-5 with a walk in the Marauders' 8-1 win over Mercyhurst. Taylor was subsequently named the PSAC East and NCBWA Atlantic Region Hitter of the Week. Of the 37 Division II hitters with at least 50 at bats, Taylor ranks sixth in batting average (.472). He has already had two five-hit games this season. Since going 0-for-5 against Felician on Feb. 16, Taylor has gone 16-for-28 (.571) with seven runs, six RBIs, four doubles and two home runs. He has a hit in six-straight games and three or more hits in four of those six. 
• When it comes to hot starts to the season, Taylor isn't alone. Keegan Soltis and John Seibert also hitting over .400. Soltis is riding a seven-game hitting streak into the weekend and has four consecutive multi-hit games. In the three games in Glenville, Soltis went 8-for-12 with two runs, two doubles and four RBIs. Soltis also drew the walk-off base on balls in the 11-inning win over Pitt-Johnstown. Seibert has hit safely in 11 of 13 games. Seibert and Taylor have won the season's first two PSAC East Hitter of the Week awards. 
• Millersville's bullpen has been lights out this season. The 10 pitchers without a start have combined for 28 appearances and 51 1/3 innings over which they've allowed just seven earned runs for a 1.22 ERA. The group has struck out 66 with only 14 walks issued. That crew doesn't include Carson Kulina who has made two relief appearances in which he's pitched 8 2/3 innings with five hits and one run allowed with 10 strikeouts or Matthew Williams, who went 4 2/3 innings with two hits and one run allowed and six strikeouts in his two relief outings. 
   

SCOUTING OPPONENTS

• While Chestnut Hill has started 0-4, it opened its season with games against three teams ranked in the NCBWA East Region's Top 10, including Franklin Pierce, which is No. 3 and reached the NCAA East Regional last season. Another opponent, Queens, reached the ECC Championship game in 2022. The Griffins recorded 10 hits in each of the last two games and also drew 11 walks in those games. The Griffins scored at least five runs in three of the four games. Andrew Sawarynski is off to a fast start, hitting .400 with a homer and four RBIs through four games. On the mound, three Griffins provided five-plus innings in their first starts. Malon Rose pitched five innings in relief and struck out nine. 
• Goldey-Beacom started the season 6-0 before a split with Mansfield and a loss to Kutztown on Feb. 26. The Lightning allowed 32 runs in those two losses but also earned a 10-0 win over Mansfield. The Lightning have shown the ability to score in bunches, scoring eight or more runs five times. Four players are hitting over .300 including Christian Petrillo, who is 14-for-35 (.400) with a team-best .512 on base percentage. Pitcher Tommy Federici has not allowed an earned run and has held opponents to five hits with 12 strikeouts in his two starts spanning 10 2/3 innings. He tossed six shutout innings with seven strikeouts against Mansfield. 

SERIES HISTORY

• Millersville and Chestnut Hill first played in 2013, and Millersville has won five of six games since, but Chestnut Hill won the last meeting, which was on May 4, 2021. The Griffins won that game at home by a 14-12 score. Current Marauder Jimmy Losh hit a home run in that game. Millersville has scored at least seven runs in all six games against Chestnut Hill and has scored in double figures four times. 
• Millersville is 16-1 all-time against Goldey-Beacom with seven consecutive victories. Millersville swept the season series last season, outscoring the Lightning by a combined total of 36-8. Millersville has posted three shutouts in the last five games against Goldey-Beacom. Millersville has also scored at least six runs in 14 of the 16 meetings.