MILLERSVILLE, Pa. - Two Atlantic Region heavyweights exchanged blows inning after inning. Millersville, though staggered, delivered the knockout punch to arch rival West Chester in the bottom of the eighth with clutch RBI doubles from Jimmy Losh and Thomas Caufield, rallying the Marauders from a one-run deficit to a 6-4 win and on to the NCAA Super Regional. 

Millersville (43-8) now sits two home wins away from Cary, N.C., but bouncing West Chester, the defending Atlantic Region champ, required a second wind. The Marauders were on the ropes but fought back. The scoreboard stood tied three times and the lead changed hands three times. The first seven runs were scored in a heated first four innings, and West Chester clutched to a one-run lead for four innings until Millersville's lineup steadied itself against side-winding reliever Dylan Howanitz, who had given his team four shutout innings with one hit allowed.

Millersville's heaviest punchers awaited in the eighth, but in front of them, No. 9 hitter and the inning's leadoff batter Chase Simmons, faced an 0-2 hole against Howanitz. Simmons had learned to grind-out at-bats as a senior in 2023 with Millersville counting on him to get on base and turn the lineup over all season. In the most important plate appearance of his season, Simmons refused to chase. He stayed patient, and Howanitz missed on four-straight pitches. 

"It's one of those things. We were fortunate to have our best hitters up at the most crucial time," said Millersville head coach Jon Shehan. "Chase Simmons comes through with a huge at -bat and draws a walk. Phenomenal at-bat. He's been doing it all year. The only thing that changed with Chase from last year to this year was more takes. He's done a really good job setting up the top of the lineup."

With the tying run aboard, West Chester had to contend with Millersville's three leading hitters--each one an all-region performer. Losh showed bunt and slashed on the first offering from Howanitz but fouled the pitch back to the screen. That mishit was good fortune for the Marauders as Losh swung away on pitch No. 2 and laced the offering to the left-center field wall. Simmons sprinted from first to home, tying the score. Back-to-back lefty bats in Bren Taylor and Caufield awaited, so West Chester countered with southpaw Julian Costa, who had thrown 108 pitches in a start on Thursday. Taylor flew out to center on a two-strike pitch, deep enough to move Losh to third.  Losh, the go-ahead run, stood 90 feet from home with Caufield, owner of 32 extra-base hits and a team-leading 50 RBIs, at the plate. In the May 2 regular season match-up, Caufield hit a game-tying three-run home run that sparked Millersville to a win over the Golden Rams. Yet with first base open and one out, West Chester elected to pitch to the All-American. 

Caufield needed just one pitch to make West Chester regret that decision. He powered an outside corner fastball over the head of left fielder Corey Stauffer, untying the game. 

"I walked up to Bren before his at-bat and said, 'They are probably going to pitch around Tom, so you have to get a base hit, not move him over,'" said Shehan. "With two strikes, Bren got the job done and moved Jimmy to third. I'm still surprised they pitched to Tom. It's a coaching decision they made, and Tom executed and got it done."

Two batters later, Keegan Soltis smacked a single to center, scoring Caufield from second and giving Millersville a two-run cushion. 

From there, the game was put in the hands of Millersville reliever Evan Rishell, the sophomore lefty who had entered in the seventh to escape a two-on, two-out jam. Rishell made quick work of the Golden Rams in the ninth, retiring leadoff hitter Evan Profy on a come-backer for the final out. Rishell improved to 5-0 and lowered his ERA to 0.81 with 2 1/3 shutout innings. 

"I wish every player I've coached had (Rishell's) heart," said Shehan. "It's unbelievable. He's a walk-on. He's a bulldog. He wants the ball in those situations. We looked at each other in the dugout and said, 'This is Rishell's game no matter where it goes.' He definitely doesn't have the best stuff on our staff, but he has the best mentality. He's turned into a leader in that bullpen."

Millersville starter Ben Wilchacky was struck in the leg with a liner in the first inning, and while he stayed in the game, it was evident that he was impacted. He battled for 2 2/3 innings but surrendered three runs on six hits. Alex Mykut made a rare relief appearance and capably bridged the gap to Rishell. Mykut worked four full innings and allowed just one hit. 

"Looking into a potential game two, it was a risk to take Wilchacky out early," said Shehan. "You are hoping to have an extended outing there. Mykut extending it out and getting to 70 pitches was big."
By winning the final two regular season games and the two NCAA regional match-ups, Millersville has now won four in a row over West Chester for the first time since 2013. The current streak answered a West Chester run of four-straight wins from 2022 into 20223. Since Shehan became Millersville's head coach in 2008, West Chester holds a slight 32-31 lead in the series, but that includes a sweep in Shehan's very first PSAC East series. He's since won 10 PSAC East titles to West Chester's five. Millersville owns two regional championships with West Chester winning four. 

"It's always been a knock-down, drag-em-out fight," said Shehan. "They are an hour away, usually fundamentally sound, so it's always a close game. We run into them recruiting all the time. We've had some great players from their neighborhood. They seem to have won the big game where we didn't. We have a chip on our shoulder to be honest. We hope it's our turn."

Losh followed Friday's four-hit performance against the Rams with three more hits on Saturday, doubling twice, stealing a base and scoring three runs. Caufield's lone hit was the eighth-inning double, but he also drove in Millersville's first run with a sacrifice fly. Justin Taylor doubled in Cole Houser in the second on a hit-and-run. 

UP NEXT 
• As the region's No. 1 seed, Millersville will host the NCAA Super Regional at Cooper Park on May 26-27. As of Saturday at 4 p.m., East Stroudsburg, Seton Hill and Mercyhurst remained standing on the other side of the bracket. Millersville faces that bracket winner in a best-of-three series for the right to play against the nation's other seven super region winners in Cary.