ABOUT THE SERIES

• Millersville and East Stroudsburg, two teams ranked in the top-10 in Division II meet in a key PSAC East series starting Friday in East Stoudsburg and conclude Saturday with a doubleheader at Cooper Park. Millersville is 25-4 overall, marking the program's best start since 2016 and the second-best start in program history. Millersville is also 9-0 in PSAC East play for the first time. East Stroudsburg is off to its best start through 30 games in program history with a 26-4 record and sits just one game behind the Marauders in the PSAC East standings at 8-1 in division play.
• This is the first time since 2015 that the PSAC has had two teams ranked in the top 10 at the same time, and it is the conference's first top-10 match-up since Seton Hill and Mercyhurst were ranked No. 7 and No. 8 respectively for their April 24-25 series in 2015.
• There is plenty of recent history to the Millersville-East Stroudsburg rivalry as just last season, Millersville beat East Stroudsburg 9-2 in the PSAC Championship game, while ESU, one week later, had a hand in knocking the Marauders out of the NCAA Regional with a 12-7 win.
• The series features two of the nation's best pitching staffs. Millersville ranks No. 1 in Division II in ERA at 2.54 and East Stroudsburg ranks No. 2 at 2.76. Millersville is ranked first in hits allowed per nine innings at 6.34 while East Stroudsburg ranks 11th at 7.74. Millersville is also the nation's top-ranked team in WHIP (1.05), and East Stroudsburg is ranked eighth (1.24). Millersville is seventh in strikeout to walk ratio (2.99). East Stroudsburg ranks 14th (2.76). East Stroudsburg is an outstanding defensive club, leading the nation in fielding percentage (.983). Millersville is tied for 27th in fielding (.972). Both clubs are also aggressive on the base paths with East Stroudsburg ranking second nationally with 4.40 steals per game, and Millersville ranking 11th with 2.86 steals per game. East Stroudsburg has allowed just 14 stolen bases while throwing out 10. Millersville has allowed 18 stolen bases but has thrown out just three.

SCOUTING THE MARAUDERS

• After an eight-game stretch in which it committed 15 errors, Millersville played error-free defense in four-straight games. Millersville has allowed more than three runs just twice in the last 10 games. At the plate, the Marauders have tallied 10 or more hits in six of the last eight games and drawn three or more walks in eight in a row. Overall, Millersville are winners of 10-straight games and 18 of the last 19.
• Thomas Caufield is heating up at the right time of the season. He's had a hit in nine of the last 10 games and has hit .395 since March 4.
• As a team, the Marauders rank second in the PSAC in batting average (.315), second in doubles (65), second in triples and second in home runs (25).
• Three Marauders rank in the PSAC's top 10 in hitting. Bren Taylor is fifth (.398), Jimmy Losh is seventh (.393) and Keegan Soltis is ninth (.388). Soltis' .519 on base percentage ranks third in the PSAC.
• On the mound, Carson Kulina has not allowed more than one run in any of his eight appearances--all of which have gone at least three innings. He's allowed just 23 hits over 36 innings and ranks 15th in Division II in WHIP (0.89). Ben Wilchacky is 19th in WHIP (0.92), allowing 27 hits over 43 1/3 innings while boasting a team-best .179 batting average against.
• All seven Marauder relievers with at least five appearances own a batting average against over .229 or lower. Harry Prince has allowed just four hits in 13 1/3 innings and now boasts a 0.68 ERA. He has not allowed an earned run since Feb. 10. Fellow reliever Evan Rishell has not allowed an earned run since Feb. 25 and has allowed just five hits and one unearned run over his last seven appearances spanning 9 2/3 innings. 
   

SCOUTING THE WARRIORS

• East Stroudsburg is a well-rounded club with no discernable weaknesses. The lineup ranks first in the PSAC with a .426 on base percentage, and they have totaled 132 stolen bases--49 more than any other team in the league. The Warriors hit .303 as a team and have scored the second-most runs in the league (227). Jack Rothenhausler is the team's top hitter, ranking third in the PSAC with a .404 average. He is also third in RBIs (30). Mike Kelly is the team's leader in OBP and ranks second in the PSAC at .522. The Warriors hold three of the top four spots in stolen bases. Matt Ervolina leads the way with 26 followed by Ben Piripavel with 23. Kelly is fourth with 22.
• The Marauders will face some of the top arms in the PSAC this weekend in Chase Nowak, Brent Francisco and Tom Reisinger. The Marauders have seen all three pitchers in previous seasons. Both Nowak and Francisco were All-PSAC East First Team and ABCA/D2CCA All-Atlantic Region First Team in 2022. Nowak is 7-1 this season and 16-1 over his last 24 starts. The duo ranked third and fourth in the PSAC in innings pitched last season. Francisco currently ranks third and Nowak is 10th in innings. Reisinger has made seven starts and 10 appearances, and he leads the team with 53 strikeouts in 40 innings.

SERIES HISTORY

• Millersville has won eight-straight season series over East Stroudsburg, taking three of four games each season from 2014-2021 and then winning two of three in 2022. The last time East Stroudsburg won a regular season series against Millersville was in 2010. Both Jon Shehan and John Kochmansky took over their programs in 2008, and as good as both teams have been over the last 15-plus years, they've played just six postseason games with Millersville holding a 4-2 edge. East Stroudsburg has had some recent success at Cooper Park, winning a game at Millersville's home field in each of the last three seasons.
• Millersville held a 3-2 edge in the five 2022 meetings. The three regular season games were decided by a combined total of four runs. Millersville won the Friday nine-inning game 7-6 in 10 innings, scoring three runs in the bottom of the ninth before Luke Trainer walked it off with an RBI double in the bottom of the 10th. In Millersville's ninth-inning rally, Bren Taylor led off with a double followed by a Caufield walk, Trainer walk and Soltis double. Cole Houser drove in the tying run with a fielder's choice ground out. Wilchacky and Nowak started the game. Nowak gave up three unearned runs on five hits, three walks and two hit batsmen with five strikeouts over seven innings. Wilchacky surrendered two runs on four hits and four walks over four innings.
• In game two of the series, ESU scored six runs in the first three innings and received nine strikeouts over five innings from Reisinger. In game three, Millersville rallied from a 6-3 deficit with runs in the fifth, sixth and seventh. Losh and Taylor both had three hits. Nate Young (2 2/3 IP) and Sam Morris (3 IP) carried the Marauders on the mound with a combined six strikeouts and no walks. Francisco allowed four runs on nine hits over five innings.
• Losh had three more hits and Soltis scored three runs in the PSAC Championship win while Morris made his first career start and allowed just one run on four hits over 5 1/3 innings. In East Stroudsburg's regional win, Taylor had four hits for Millersville, but ESU received three hits from Piripavel, four RBIs from Tommy Dunleavy and three RBIs from C.J. Peechatka. Neither starter fared well in the game. The Marauders chased Francisco after 2 1/3 innings by scoring five runs. Kris Pirozzi and Prince provided seven innings of relief work for Millersville.