ABOUT THE GAME

• With rain expected to hit Cooper Park on Friday, the series between Millersville and Mansfield will now begin at 2 p.m. on Saturday, April 12. The Marauders are on the rise in polls, claiming in the No. 1 spot in the NCBWA Atlantic Region poll for the first time this season. Millersville has also climbed to No. 9 in the NCBWA Division II poll and to No. 12 in the ABCA national poll. Millersville is 15-0, out-hitting teams .331-.211 and out-scoring opponents 131-46 at home. Millersville's pitchers also boast a 3.23 ERA with 90 hits and 128 strikeouts in 117 innings at Cooper Park while opponents have a 10.20 ERA, 138 hits allowed, 67 strikeouts and 87 walks issued in 102 1/3 innings. 
• Mansfield has lost five in a row after a sweep at the hands of East Stroudsburg and a mid-week loss to Slippery Rock on April 1. The Mountaineers split their first two PSAC East with Shepherd and Kutztown. 
• At 10-2 in the division, Millersville is tied with East Stroudsburg for first place. Mansfield, at 4-8, is locked in a three-way tie for fifth, sitting two games behind Shippensburg for the final playoff spot. 

SCOUTING THE MARAUDERS

• Bren Taylor is on the brink of history. He needs just four runs to break Jimmy Losh's (2019-23) Millersville record, and he sits 12 behind West Chester's Nick Spisak (2007-10) for the PSAC record. He's closing in on Chas McCormick's (2014-17) PSAC hits record, needing nine to set a new mark. Game one on Saturday will mark Taylor's 200th career game played, and he enters the weekend with 726 at-bats. McCormick played 223 with 821 at-bats, and Spisak played 222 with 841 at-bats. Taylor has a hit in 11 of the last 12 games and in eight in a row. He's also driven in a run in seven consecutive games with 13 RBIs in that stretch. In the 12 games since March 21, Taylor has bumped his batting average from .338 to .408. He now ranks fourth in the PSAC in average, is tied for second in hits, and is fourth in RBIs.
• Matthew Williams has not hit a home run since March 21, but he needs one to become the 10th Marauder to hit 10 or more home runs in a season. He is also just three homers shy of the Millersville career record. Despite the drought, he still ranks fourth in the PSAC, just one homer away from the lead.
• Donis Rodriguez's batting average dropped to .160 after going 0 for 3 in game one of the March 21 doubleheader against Shepherd, but in the 11 games since, he is second on the team, trailing only Taylor, with a .423 batting average and .543 OBP. He also leads the team with five extra-base hits, five stolen bases and an .846 slugging percentage in that stretch. Rodriguez ranks second on the team with a .344 average against PSAC East opponents.
• Sam Morris, ranked ninth in the PSAC in batting average, is hitting .458 with 19 RBIs in 48 at-bats at Cooper Park. Amani Jones, a .277 hitter on the season, boasts a .364 average in 44 at-bats at home.
• Millersville's bullpen is also more productive at Cooper Park. Matt Shamany, Jordan Oliver, Gavin Lill, Rece Ritchey and Tucker Chamberlin have combined to pitch 22 innings without a run allowed and just seven hits surrendered in 15 home appearances.
• Connor Blantz is second in the PSAC in strikeouts (60) and ranks seventh nationally in strikeouts per inning pitched (13.50). He also ranks 10th in the nation in strikeout to walk ratio (8.57). 
   

SCOUTING MANSFIELD

• Mansfield boasts a .303 team batting average, which is good for sixth in the PSAC. It also ranks fifth in on-base percentage (.410) and eighth in runs scored. The Mountaineers issue has been pitching as they rank 16th in the 16-team conference in ERA (9.18). The Mountaineers allow a PSAC-high 9.9 hits per game, and teams are hitting .327, placing Mansfield 15th in batting average against.
• Jacob Houtz is a legitimate PSAC East Athlete of the Year candidate, hitting .436 (second in the PSAC) while ranking second in OBP (.531), and third in slugging percentage (.798). He's hit seven homers and 13 doubles, ranking in the PSAC's top 10 in both categories.

SERIES HISTORY

• Millersville has won 11 in a row and 17 of the last 18 over Mansfield. Mansfield's last win over Millersville was in nine innings on May 2, 2021. Mansfield hasn't beaten Millersville in a regulation, seven-inning game since April 9, 2018, and hasn't won one at Cooper Park since 2017. Mansfield has won just six of the 42 meetings since 2013, and four of those games were decided by one run and two were in extra innings. Millersville is 32-8 at Cooper Park against Mansfield. The longest winning streak in the series is Millersville's 13 in a row from 2013-2016, but Millersville is currently riding an 11-game winning streak. Mansfield has not scored more than six runs in any meeting since 2018, and Millersville has limited Mansfield to one or zero runs in seven of the last 11 games. Mansfield's last won a series against Millersville in 2010. 
• Last season, Millersville squeezed past Mansfield by 3-0 and 2-1 scores at home before winning 11-1 and 26-3 on the road the following day. Keegan Soltis had four hits and Amani Jones, Matthew Williams and Jimmy Kirk (2) hit home runs in the 26-run explosion. Soltis also had three hits, a homer and four RBIs in the 11-run performance in game three.