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EAST STROUDSBURG – East Stroudsburg University will begin the pursuit of its first trip to the NCAA Division II College World Series in school history when the Warriors open the Atlantic Regional against Seton Hill on Friday at 6 p.m. at Clipper Magazine Stadium in Lancaster.

The Warriors (25-18), the fourth seed in the six-team regional, are making their second all-time appearance in the NCAA Baseball Tournament and the first since competing in the South Atlantic Regional in 1985. They are seeking their first-ever postseason win in NCAA play and enter the regional with exactly 1,000 wins in program history.

ESU and fourth-year head coach John Kochmansky waited three days to find out that its season was extended after being knocked out of the PSAC Tournament on Thursday, but a strong regular season was rewarded as the Warriors will continue a record-breaking 2011 campaign.

The squad opened the season in Cary, NC three months ago with a three-game sweep of defending CIAA champion Saint Augustine's, and is now closing in on a return trip to the USA Baseball National Training Complex – which also doubles as the home of the Division II College World Series.

The sweep of Saint Augustine's helped the Warriors to a 10-0 record, the longest undefeated start in school history, which also included a four-game sweep of CIAA regular season champion Chowan. It was a prelude of things to come, as ESU moved to No. 11 in the NCBWA Top 25 on March 22 for its first-ever national ranking after a 16-4 start.

The Warriors sat at 19-6 after a sweep at West Chester on April 9, but lost their No. 3 hitter, sophomore OF Eric Boyer, due to injury in the second game. Without a key component, the offense struggled over the next month as ESU went 4-10 without Boyer despite getting consistently strong pitching performances.

ESU was still ranked No. 2 in the first Atlantic Region poll on April 20, but slid to No. 7 in the rankings released on May 4. But a key sweep at Mansfield on May 9 put the Warriors in the PSAC Tournament for the second straight season and gave them 25 wins for the third straight year, and after the region's postseason tournaments were completed, they moved into the final at-large spot in the regional field which was announced Sunday night.

The Warriors went into last week's PSAC Tournament short on starting pitching after facing a pair of must-win games on Monday at Mansfield, but are reloaded with redshirt senior Jeremy Gigliotti ready to take the ball for his school record-tying 39th career start on Friday night.

Gigliotti, the PSAC East Pitcher of the Year and a regional finalist for the Tino Martinez Award, leads Division II with a 0.45 ERA during an indescribable senior season. His numbers speak for themselves – three earned runs against in 60.0 innings, 73 strikeouts, 11 walks and 26 hits allowed for a DII-leading 3.90 hits per 9 innings and a school record 231 career strikeouts – but more importantly, he was at his best with a PSAC Tournament spot on the line in the opener at Mansfield.

The left-hander threw a no-hitter, struck out 10 and faced one batter over the minimum in a 2-0 victory for his third shutout of the season, and redshirt sophomore Andy Noga shut down the Mounties' offense in a 7-1 victory in the nightcap.

Noga is pegged as the Warriors' probable starter in game two, which will come against either the winner of No. 2 Mercyhurst/No. 5 Winston-Salem State or No. 1 Millersville/No. 6 Concord in an elimination game.

The right-hander leads Division II with 0.71 walks per 9 innings and has a 2.42 ERA, 51 strikeouts and five walks in 63.1 innings this season. He has allowed two or fewer earned runs in nine of his 11 starts, one away from tying the school record, and completed five of his seven PSAC East starts, including a shutout against Kutztown.

Led by Gigliotti and Noga, ESU's pitching staff has compiled a 3.07 ERA that is the school's lowest since 1974. Other potential contributors include junior Ryan Beck (3.81 ERA, 10 games/4 starts, 28.1 IP), sophomores Mike Glassic (2.74 ERA, 9 games/3 starts, 23.0 IP) and Colin Kelly (7.67 ERA, 9 games/7 starts, 31.2 IP) and freshmen Keith Moyer (3.76 ERA, 12 games/2 starts, 26.1 IP) and Keenan Stare (4.15 ERA, 12 games/3 starts, 26.0 IP).

Offensively, Boyer and fellow sophomore 1B Brian Ernst give the Warriors two strong bats in the middle of the order. Boyer is hitting .356 with a .449 on-base percentage, 12 extra-base hits and 28 RBI in the No. 3 hole and Ernst is hitting .361 with a .445 on-base percentage, 12 extra-base hits and a team-high 34 RBI in the cleanup spot.

The top of the order features junior SS Evan Gallagher as the leadoff hitter and redshirt junior 3B Jake Griesemer as the No. 2 hitter. Gallagher, a second team All-PSAC East selection, is a three-year starter and is hitting .290 with a .369 on-base percentage, a team-high 35 runs and 17 stolen bases on 19 attempts. Griesemer is hitting .333 with a .378 on-base percentage, 15 stolen bases, 30 runs and 31 RBI.

Freshman CF Chris Knott, the No. 5 hitter, is coming off his top collegiate game, going 4-for-4 with two doubles and three RBI against Shippensburg in the PSAC Tournament. He has raised his average from .230 at the start of April to .277 entering the regional and has a .413 on-base percentage, 11 extra-base hits and 22 RBI.

Freshman OF/DH Matt Bahnick has also had a strong first season at ESU, hitting .291 with a .330 on-base percentage in 28 starts. He hit .328, third-best on the team, in 20 starts against the PSAC East. Sophomore OF Evan Cain is hitting .250 with a .342 on-base percentage while making 33 starts between left and right field.

Sophomore Nico Delerme (.246 – 17-69, .376 on-base percentage) and freshman Eric Forth (.271 – 19-70, .325 on-base percentage) have split most of the catching duties. Senior Bryce Muth is a four-year letterwinner and has made 10 starts behind the plate.

Junior 2B Ryan Guarino has been one of the Warriors' unsung heroes and moved back down to the No. 8 spot when Boyer returned after moving up to No. 2 in his absence. He is hitting .337 with a .454 on-base percentage, going 31-for-92 with 20 walks, and has 13 RBI. He is also fielding .967 with just four errors at second base, part of a team defense that is second in the 14-team PSAC in fielding percentage at .969.

Other offensive contributors this season include sophomore 1B/DH Tom Spilatore, who is hitting .270 with a .353 on-base percentage in 27 starts, and freshman 3B Mark Romano, who is 2-for-13 at the plate with four walks. Freshman pitcher Kurtis Roberts has served as the primary pinch-runner.

Seton Hill, ESU's opening round opponent, enters with a 33-13 record and won the WVIAC Northern Division title for the second straight season. The Griffins are making their second straight NCAA Atlantic Regional appearance after going 1-2 in the tournament last season.

Seton Hill went 33-10 in regular season play, including a 19-game winning streak from March 13 through April 13, before dropping all three of its games in the WVIAC Tournament. Results against PSAC opponents include two-game sweeps of Slippery Rock and IUP and a 1-2 weekend against California.

Head coach Marc Marizzaldi was named WVIAC Coach of the Year and three players were named first team All-WVIAC in starting pitcher Rick Raraigh, relief pitcher Brian Warheit and 3B Tom DeAngelis. Starting pitcher Brad Schnelle and outfielder Josh Logan were named to the second team.

Raraigh is 5-3 with a 2.42 ERA, 52 strikeouts and 26 walks in 54.1 innings, while Schnelle is 6-2 with a 2.58 ERA, 53 strikeouts and 22 walks in 59.1 innings. Warheit has a 5-1 record, four saves, a 4.46 ERA, 44 strikeouts and 13 walks in 42.1 innings over 17 appearances, but surrendered 10 runs in 5.2 innings in an 11-9 loss to Concord in the first game of the WVIAC Tournament.

DeAngelis leads the Griffins at the plate with a .388 average, seven home runs and 46 RBI. Logan is hitting .386 with two homers and 33 RBI and eight regulars are hitting over .300 to give the Griffins a .326 batting average and 318 runs in 46 games. The club is also aggressive on the base paths with 117 stolen bases, 10th-most in Division II.

In the other two first round games, No. 1 seed Millersville takes on No. 6 Concord, the WVIAC postseason champion, and No. 2 seed Mercyhurst, the PSAC champion, takes on No. 5 Winston-Salem State, the champion of the CIAA.

The six-team, double-elimination tournament will continue until Monday at Clipper Magazine Stadium. The complete schedule is below:

Friday
Game 2 – 11 a.m. – Mercyhurst vs. Winston-Salem State
Game 1 – 2:30 p.m. – Millersville vs. Concord
Game 3 – 6 p.m. – ESU vs. Seton Hill

Saturday
Game 4 – 11 a.m. – Loser Game 1 vs. Loser Game 2 (loser eliminated)
Game 5 – 2:30 p.m. – Winner Game 1 vs. Loser Game 3 (eliminated with loss)
Game 6 – 6 p.m. – Winner Game 2 vs. Winner Game 3

If Four Teams Remain after Game 6:

Sunday
Game 7 – 11 a.m. – Winner Game 5 vs. Winner Game 6
Game 8 – 2:30 p.m. – Winner Game 4 vs. Loser Game 6
Game 9 – 6 p.m. – Winner Game 8 vs. Loser Game 7

Monday
Game 10 – 1 p.m. – Winner Game 7 vs. Winner Game 9
Game 11 – 4:30 p.m. – Rematch of Game 10 if necessary

If Five Teams Remain after Game 6:

Sunday
Game 7 – 11 a.m. – Loser Game 5 vs. Loser Game 6
Game 8 – 2:30 p.m. – Winner Game 4 vs. Winner Game 5
Game 9 – 6 p.m. – Winner Game 6 vs. Winner Game 7

If Two Teams Remain after Game 9:

Monday
Game 10 – 1 p.m. – Winner Game 8 vs. Winner Game 9
Game 11 – 4:30 p.m. – Rematch of Game 10 if necessary

If Three Teams Remain after Game 9:

Monday
Game 10 – 1 p.m. – Winner Game 8 vs. Loser Game 9
Game 11 – 4:30 p.m. – Winner Game 9 vs. Winner Game 10