GREENVILLE — If college is an accurate indication, Mars II has plenty to smile about this summer baseball season.

The Eagle County League entrant is getting Nick Rossmiller and Eric King on its roster — and both were keys to getting Thiel College into the Presidents’ Athletic Conference Tournament for the first time since 2009.

Rossmiller, in fact, was named PAC Player of the Year, while King was a four-year starter at second base for the Tomcats and was second in the PAC in hits this spring with 59.

Rossmiller became Thiel’s first conference player of the year since slugging first baseman Randy Chicquelin won the honor in 2003.

They joined fellow senior Eric Steininger as tri-captains for Thiel baseball this year.

“Nick and Eric are roommates and they’ve pushed each other since the preseason,” Thiel coach Joe Schaly said. “They both put in extra time and it paid off.

“They made each other better.”

On the mound, Rossmiller was 7-4 with a 2.90 earned run average this season. He had 53 strikeouts and only 14 walks in 90 innings pitched. He also threw four complete games and three shutouts.

Rossmiller tossed only the 16th perfect game in NCAA Division III history on March 15, defeating Hiram, 14-0.

“Control was a big part of my success on the mound this year,” Rossmiller said. “I had issues there in the past, but I was in much better physical shape this season and the technique of (assistant) coach Brian Warning played a big factor, too.

“We had a ‘bullpen buddy’ who we propped up next to the plate and we weren’t allowed to hit him. We also had to keep the ball down around the knees.

“Brian hammered home the technique of working low and moving pitches side to side,” Rossmiller added.

When Rossmiller wasn’t pitching, he was playing another position. He became a bit of a jack of all trades in that regard.

“He is athletic enough to play any position,” Schaly said. “He played first, third, shortstop, in the outfield ... We needed that bat in the lineup.”

Rossmiller wound up leading the PAC in hitting with a .436 average, setting a school record in that category. He also hit four home runs and finished second in the PAC with a .636 slugging percentage and .475 on-base average.

“Eric always spends a ton of time in the batting cages and he helped me with my mental approach,” Rossmiller said. “He’s focused hard on the hitting aspect all the time.”

It showed.

King hit a career-best .373 with 11 doubles and two homers. He also stole eight bases in as many attempts and was sixth in the PAC with 38 runs scored.

“I hit in the second spot pretty much my entire time at Thiel,” King said. “Our No.’s 1 through 5 batters were all seniors. When I got on base, those guys usually drove me in.”

Defensively, King had a .942 careeer fielding percentage, committing only 36 errors in 623 chances,. He started 142 of the 147 games he played at Thiel.

“He was first team all-conference two years in a row,” Schaly said. “Eric had a great career with us. He was a fixture at second base. I never had to worry about that position.”

The Tomcats dropped their first two PAC Tournament games recently, bringing their season to an end at 24-18. They were 17-7 in league play this year.

“This was the first trip to the tournament for our seniors,” Shaly said. “Nick and Eric were great leaders. Hopefully, they got something started here.”

They wished they had more time to play.

“We tried to lead by example,” King said. “We were a free-swingng team and the coaches had confidence in us. I’m sorry we couldn’t do more.”

Rossmniller agreed.

“It was an emotional time after we lost that last game,” Rossmiller said. “We had a long team huddle. Nobody wanted to leave the field.

“We were a talented team. We could hit the ball, pitch it, field it. Our team could do it all.

“It felt good making the tournament, but I’m leaving the program feeling like we didn’t do enough and that hurts a little bit.”