Box Scores
W 13-3 / W 8-1
EAST STROUDSBURG - Junior pitchers Jeremy Gigliotti and Christian Saveri both had stellar outings, the offense scored multiple runs in six innings and East Stroudsburg University completed its first PSAC East baseball series sweep in nine years with a pair of wins over Bloomsburg, 13-3 and 8-1, on Saturday afternoon at Mitterling Field.
The Warriors scored 49 runs in the four-game set after posting 18-5 and 10-4 victories on Friday at Bloomsburg and improve to 20-14 overall (5-7 PSAC East). ESU went 1-7 in its first eight conference games against defending champion Kutztown and preseason favorite West Chester but put itself back in the hunt for one of the four playoff bids in the PSAC East. ESU's last sweep came against Kutztown during the 2000 season.
While Gigliotti (6.0 IP, two hits, no runs, eight strikeouts) and Saveri (6.0 IP, three hits, one run, 10 strikeouts) took care of business on the mound, the Warriors' bats had 21 hits and put pressure on the Huskies all day.
In the opener, the bottom three spots in the order - junior C Brendan O'Connor, freshman 2B Ryan Guarino and freshman SS Evan Gallagher - combined to reach base in all 12 of their plate appearances with seven hits and five walks and scored seven runs. Gallagher was 4-for-4 with three RBI and scored twice, Guarino drew three walks and scored three runs and O'Connor and sophomore C Bryce Muth combined to go 3-for-3 with a walk in the seventh spot.
At the top of the lineup, senior OF Mike Bortz went 3-for-5, walked three times, was hit by a pitch and had four RBI and scored four runs in the doubleheader and hit .700 (7-for-10) with seven walks, 12 RBI and nine runs in the four-game series.
ESU led 3-0 through three innings in the first game, then scored 10 runs over the next three frames to go ahead 13-0. The first six batters reached base in a five-run fourth inning, keyed by a two-run double by Bortz and an RBI double by freshman OF Carey Zimmerman. ESU loaded the bases again in the fifth and scored three runs, and Gallagher cracked a two RBI double in the sixth.
Gigliotti improved to 3-2 with his six scoreless innings and has 44 strikeouts in 34.0 innings this season. Saveri also moved to 3-2 after earning the win in the second game and carried a shutout into the sixth inning. He made his second start and 13th appearance of the year and recorded a career-high 10 strikeouts.
The Warriors supported Saveri with six runs in the first inning as they sent 12 batters to the plate. Senior 3B Mark Angelo hit his fourth home run of the season to put ESU ahead 2-0 three batters into the inning, Gallagher reached on an RBI fielders choice and three Warriors drew bases-loaded walks to drive in runs.
Angelo had an RBI double to plate Bortz and scored on a single by senior 1B Chris Zsenak to give ESU an 8-0 lead in the third inning.
Saveri struck out five of the six batters he faced in the fourth and fifth innings before Bloomsburg scored its only run of the game in the sixth. Freshman Andy Noga pitched a perfect seventh inning in relief.
ESU collected 46 hits, including 12 doubles and five home runs, and had a .390 batting average off the Huskies for the weekend. Five starters hit over .400 - Guarino (4-5), Bortz (7-10), Gallagher (8-15), senior OF Kevin Thompson (6-13) and Zsenak (6-14).
Thompson was hit by a pitch in both games, giving him the school record of 14 hit-by-pitches this season, and extending his career record to 31. Thompson had two home runs and eight RBI on Friday to give him 103 career runs batted in, six away from ESU's record.
The Warriors will take a season-best five-game winning streak into Wednesday's single nine-inning game against Philadelphia University at 3 p.m. at Mitterling Field. ESU takes on Shippensburg in next weekend's conference series.
