MILLERSVILLE, Pa. - Millersville baseball has entered the stretch run of the regular season, and that makes it Justin Taylor time. The Millersville season, a postseason hero with a late-season offensive surge in each of the last two seasons, delivered a clutch, two-run triple in the bottom of the sixth to lift Millersville to a 5-3 win over Shepherd in game two of Friday's doubleheader. Those late-game heroics followed Carson Kulina's complete game and Millersville's 2-1 win in game one. 

Taylor went 0 for 2 in game one, hitless for a fifth consecutive game with his season average dipping to .222. But after hitting .423 in the NCAA Tournament in 2023 and hitting two homers in Millersville's run to the 2022 PSAC Championship, Taylor has shown a knack for these late-season moments. Millersville Coach Jon Shehan said in between games of the doubleheader that Taylor was close to finding his swing. 

"His outs were better," said Shehan. "I can see with his swing where he was pulling off last week. All this week we worked on getting it on the ground and getting wider. He hit some pop-ups in game one, but he had just missed them. You could tell it was getting better. He's really close to going off."

With the game tied 3-3 in the bottom of the sixth, Sam Morris drew a four-pitch walk, Hunter Stevens bunted him to second, and Cole Houser recorded his third single of the game. Taylor then lined an offering from reliever Chris Chaney down the right-field line. The ball took a hard carom off the base of the fence, allowing Taylor to take an extra base. Both runners scored to give a struggling Millersville offense a much-needed run-scoring hit. 

"It was a competitive at-bat," said Shehan. "Chaney was really good. His fastball was in the low 90s and his slider was good. He located some pitches. JT got a good pitch to hit and didn't miss it."

Millersville entered Friday's finale averaging just two runs per game over the previous 10 PSAC East games. The Marauders scored three in the first inning for an early lead but then went four innings with nothing more than two singles. Taylor's triple gave Millersville its most runs in six games, and set-up Evan Rishell for his first save of the season in the seventh. 

Redshirt freshman Alex Kuehn gave the Marauders 2 2/3 shutout innings of relief after the Rams knocked starter Conor Cook out in the fourth. Kuehn surrendered just one hit, did not walk a batter and struck out two. 

"Alex worked four pitches in the zone, and he's really shown maturity with his ability to come in and pitch in tough spots."

Kulina shouldered the load in game one, recording a career-high 13 strikeouts without issuing a walk. The Rams totaled eight hits, but Kulina managed to navigate a pair of innings with two runners on base. The first six outs were strikeouts and he ended the game with his 13th. 

Kulina, now 6-1 with a 1.17 ERA in seven starts against the PSAC East, received just enough run support from the Marauders' bats. Matthew Williams singled home a run in the first inning, and in the fifth, a Shepherd error opened the door to the eventual game-winning run. With Taylor on third and Amani Jones on first, Jeff Sabater put down a bunt that allowed Taylor to score. 

Millersville improved to 17-3 at home with 10 consecutive wins over Shepherd with the wins. Millersville is now 35-9 overall and 21-5 in the PSAC East, two games out of first place with six games to play. The Marauders close the series with Shepherd Saturday in Shepherdstown.