Box Scores
W 5-3 / W 7-5

MILLERSVILLE – Senior Brittany Racek and junior 3B Rachel Gieringer hit home runs to break a 5-5 tie in the top of the eighth inning in game two to give East Stroudsburg University a pair of wins over Millersville, 5-3 and 7-5, in PSAC East softball on Sunday afternoon.

The home runs capped a 24-hit attack for the Warriors (11-16, 2-6), as they pounded out 12 hits in each game to break a nine-game losing streak and pick up their first two conference wins of the season.

Senior Caitlin Monahan earned both wins in the circle, throwing a complete game and getting out of a one-out, bases-loaded jam in the seventh inning of the opener and then throwing a total of 3.2 innings without allowing a run in the second game.

Senior OF Alicea Ashe was 5-for-8 with three runs and senior OF Julia Collins went 3-for-5 with two doubles, three RBI and three walks to lead the offense as every starter had at least one hit in the twinbill.

Racek put the finishing touches on a 4-for-9 day at the plate with her 14th career home run, tied with Ashe for the second-most in school history, to give the Warriors a 6-5 lead with one out in the eighth inning. Gieringer added another solo homer two batters later for an insurance run, her 11th career blast. Both players have four home runs this season.

Junior 2B Brandi Stettler was 3-for-8 on the day, including 2-for-5 in the second game where she broke a 2-2 tie with a two-run single in the fifth inning. Millersville got two runs in the bottom of the sixth inning before ESU went back in front, 5-4, in the top of the seventh. Stettler singled with one out and pinch runner Rebecca Smith scored on a pinch-hit RBI double by junior Alex Schubert.

Monahan started and threw the first 2.0 innings of the second game, leaving with a 2-0 lead, then re-entered in relief of freshman Laura Suits in the seventh with one out and runners on first and third. The tying run scored on a wild pitch, but Monahan stranded the winning run on second base and then pitched around a two-out double to get out of the eighth inning and secure the victory.

In the opener, Ashe and Collins were both 3-for-3 to power the offense as ESU scored two runs in both the first and third innings to take a 4-1 lead. Ashe singled and scored on an RBI single by Stettler in the first inning, and Collins hit a two-out, two-run double in the third after Ashe walked to lead off the inning.

Collins also hit a two-out RBI double in the seventh inning to provide an insurance run for Monahan, who scattered 10 hits, stranded 11 base runners and allowed single runs in the first, third and seventh innings.

Millersville (11-17, 1-5) had 19 hits in the doubleheader, led by Casey Coker (5-for-6), Davina Kachnovitz (4-for-7, two RBI, four runs), Kelly Fitzgerald (3-for-4, two RBI) and Heidi Wilson (3-for-4). Allison Chew hit a two-run homer in the third inning of the second game.

ESU returns to action on Tuesday with a doubleheader at Holy Family and hosts West Chester on Friday at 1:30 p.m. to open the second half of the PSAC East schedule.

Warriors Notes
* Racek doubled and scored to lead off the second game, moving her into a tie for 2nd in school history with 33 career doubles – she also moved into a tie for 2nd with her 14th career home run in the 8th inning
* She moved into 4th at ESU with 157 career hits, passing Shannon Dietrich, who had 154 hits from 2004-07
* She ranks 4th with 52 career extra-base hits, 242 total bases and 90 runs, and moved into 10th with 59 career RBI
* Gieringer's 11 career home runs are tied for 5th with Dietrich and Ashley Miller (2003-06)
* Ashe, Racek and Gieringer are approaching the career record of 18 home runs held by Jen Veronesi (2004-07)