Box Scores
W 3-1 / W 12-4

MILLERSVILLE – East Stroudsburg University ran its winning streak to eight games and put itself in position to earn a spot in the PSAC baseball playoffs next weekend by completing a four-game sweep of Millersville on Saturday afternoon.

Freshman Colin Kelly struck out seven and surrendered just four hits and an unearned run in a 3-1 victory in the first game, matching up against Millersville ace Derek Kline, a major league draft choice by the Detroit Tigers last summer.

In the second game, the Warriors used a five-run third inning to seize control and junior Jason Kelmer hit a two-run homer in the fifth of a 12-4 victory to complete the sweep. Sophomore Ryan Beck threw ESU's fourth complete game of the series.

On Friday, freshman Brian Ernst and senior Christian Saveri were on the mound for 4-1 and 5-1 victories, and the Warriors allowed just one earned run in the first three games, off Ernst in the fifth inning after the Marauders broke up his no-hitter.

ESU (22-16, 9-11) is tied with Millersville (19-23, 9-11) for fourth in the PSAC East and takes on third-place Mansfield (26-13, 11-9) next weekend to finish the regular season. The Warriors are 7-1 in their last two PSAC East series after taking three of four from Shippensburg last weekend.

Kutztown (13-5 PSAC East) will finish its series with Bloomsburg (8-14) on Sunday and plays Millersville next weekend. West Chester is second (14-6) and closes its conference schedule vs. Shippensburg (6-14).

In the opener, Kelly gave up an unearned run in the second but stranded two runners on base and gave up just two hits over the final five innings for his first career complete game. He retired eight straight until a two-out single in the sixth, while the offense did just enough against Kline to earn the win.

The Warriors didn't allow Kline to pitch with the lead, tying the game at 1-1 in the top of the third on singles by sophomore CF Carey Zimmerman and sophomore SS Evan Gallagher and an RBI groundout by freshman RF Eric Boyer.

Sophomore DH Tom Spilatore had a big game at the plate, going 2-for-3 with a triple in the fifth and an RBI double in the seventh. He tripled to lead off the fifth and scored on a sacrifice fly by Zimmerman, and drove in redshirt sophomore IF Jake Griesemer with his double that gave Kelly a cushion going into the seventh.

Kelly won his second straight conference start, improving to 3-2 on the season and lowering his ERA to 3.89 in 34.2 innings. Kline entered the game with a 2.38 ERA, fourth-best in the PSAC.

In game two, the Warriors pounded out 13 hits, including a 3-for-5 game by Gallagher at the top of the order and two hits each from freshman 1B Brian Ernst, Kelmer and sophomore 2B Ryan Guarino.

ESU took a 1-0 lead in the first, then responded again offensively with five runs in the top of the third after Millersville plated three in the second.

The Warriors had six hits in the inning, including five straight singles to open the frame off Millersville starter Forrest Mengle. Zimmerman, Gallagher, Boyer (RBI), Ernst (RBI) and Kelmer (RBI) all had consecutive base hits and Guarino had an RBI single later in the inning.

Kelmer's homer in the fifth followed a leadoff double by Ernst and gave ESU an 8-3 lead, which the Warriors extended to 10-3 with two more runs later in the inning.

ESU added single runs on an RBI single by Griesemer in the sixth and an RBI double by Gallagher in the seventh.

The Warriors hit .330 in the series and outscored the Marauders 23-7. The offense was paced by Zimmerman (5-8), Guarino (4-8), Griesemer (5-12) and Gallagher (6-16), while Kelmer hit two home runs and had six RBI.

The PSAC East sweep is the Warriors' second in as many seasons and third in the last 10 years. ESU's sweep of Bloomsburg last year was the first since taking four from Kutztown in 2000.

The Warriors are one game away from tying the school record of nine straight wins set in 2006 going into Monday's doubleheader at Chestnut Hill. ESU has five eight-game winning streaks in school history – 2010, 1998, 1948, 1931 and 1927, the school's first year of varsity baseball.