MARS — Phil Shallenberger is tough to beat when all things are equal. Give the right-hander an early lead and the task becomes even more daunting.

Mars II found that out Friday night.

Mars plated five runs in the bottom of the first inning and went on to defeat Mars II 9-1 at Marburger Field.

The wins gives Mars a two-games-to-one lead in the best-of-five semifinal series. The fourth game is scheduled for 6 p.m. Saturday at the same venue.

Shallenberger pitched a complete game in his latest outing, striking out six and walking two while scattering seven hits. The lone run he surrendered came via a passed ball in the top of the sixth frame.

“He’s been one of our better pitchers all year,” said Mars manager Rob Fester. “Every time we give him the ball, he does a great job for us.

“They (Mars II) come out swinging,” added Fester. “The key is to make them hit your pitch and Phil got ahead of their hitters tonight.”

Shallenberger stranded seven baserunners in the win, including ones on first and second in the fourth, fifth and seventh innings.

His fastball still had its zip in the final frame and he used it to strike out Chet Shaffer and Eric King.

“My fastball was working well tonight,” Shallenberger said. “I threw my changeup a few times to keep them off-balance.

“For some reason, I seem to get stronger as the game goes on,” he added.

Mars’ big first inning was a combination of its own hitting and mistakes by Mars II.

Brendan Malone led off the inning by reaching on a two-base fielding error. With one out, he scored on Matt Colella’s base hit.

Mars II starting pitcher Eric Steininger then retired just one of the next five batters, walking three of them.

His free pass with the bases loaded to Don Dell scored Colella for a 2-0 edge.

Paul Westwood scored on a wild pitch and Dan Berty, the last batter Steininger would face, smacked a two-run single.

“Eric became a solid pitcher for us during the season,” said Mars II manager Josh Rape. “He pitched against these guys (Mars) three weeks ago and won. We have confidence in him, but it just wasn’t his night.”

“Scoring five runs in the first inning was huge,” said Fester. “We hadn’t been hitting the ball all that well, but came out of it (Thursday in a 13-2 win) and it carried over into tonight.”

Mars’ lead was boosted to 7-0 in the second inning when Mars II reliever Chet Shaffer allowed a run-scoring double to Aaron Ordy, who later scored on Westwood’s flyout.

Sam Sibeto and Berty accounted for the remaining RBI for Mars, both in the fifth inning.

Mars II’s lone tally of the game came when Matt Rovnan singled in the sixth, stole second and moved to third on a throwing error. He came home on a passed ball.

Jim Roach pitched the final 1X\c innings for Mars II.

Mars II 000 001 0 — 1 7 1Mars 520 020 x — 9 8 1W: Phil Shallenberger 7 IP (6K, 2BB).

L: Eric Steininger 2/3 IP (0K, 3BB).

Mars II: Brian Hart 1B, Matt Rovnan 2-1B R, Eric Steininger 1B, Jake Double 2-1B, Weston Hillegas 1B

Mars: Brendan Malone 1B 2R, Aaron Ordy 2B R RBI, Matt Colella 1B R RBI, Paul Westwood R RBI, Mike Bruno R, Don Dell R RBI, Dan Berty 1B 3RBI, Adam Scheiderer 2B, Justin McGurgan R, Mike Jeffreys 1B R, Sam Sibeto 1B RBI, Dan DeMarco 1B

Saturday: Mars vs. Mars II at Marburger Field, 6 p.m. (Game 4 of a best-of-5 semifinal series)