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LANCASTER – Sophomore outfielder Eric Boyer hit the game-tying single with two outs in the ninth inning, redshirt junior 3B Jake Griesemer had the go-ahead double with two outs in the 11th and freshman Keenan Stare pitched a perfect 11th for the save to give East Stroudsburg University its first NCAA Tournament win in school history with a 6-5 victory over Seton Hill late Friday night at Clipper Magazine Stadium.

The Warriors (26-18) battled back from a 5-3 deficit through three innings, getting a run in the eighth and the game-tying run on Boyer's single in the ninth, before winning it in extra innings to advance to the winners bracket in the Atlantic Regional and a match-up with Mercyhurst on Saturday at 6 p.m.

Redshirt senior Jeremy Gigliotti, the Atlantic Region Pitcher of the Year and the Division II leader in ERA, surrendered four runs with two outs in the third but shut down the Griffins the rest of the way in an impressive nine-inning, 134-pitch performance in his school record-tying 39th career start.

The left-hander didn't allow a run and gave up just three hits over his final 6.0 innings to keep the Warriors in the game, and an offense that scored two runs in the first and another in the third came to life when it was needed late in the evening. In the process, ESU notched the 1,001st win in program history in its second-ever trip to the NCAA Tournament – the Warriors went 0-2 in the South Atlantic Regional in 1985.

ESU scored each of its final three runs with clutch two-out hits, starting with sophomore C Nico Delerme's single up the middle to score freshman CF Chris Knott in the eighth. Knott drew a one-out walk off Seton Hill (33-14) starter Rick Raraigh, who exited after 7.1 innings and 140 pitches, then stole second, moved to third on a groundout and came home on Delerme's base hit.

In the ninth, it was Boyer, the No. 3 hitter, who came through with the big hit off All-Region closer Brian Warheit after the Warriors were down to their final out.

Junior SS Evan Gallagher drew a one-out walk and moved up when 3B Jake Griesemer hit a sharp ground ball up the middle that deflected off Warheit and straight to the second baseman, who threw Griesemer out at first. With the game-tying run on second, Boyer found a hole through the right side to score Gallagher and knot the score at 5-5.

Gigliotti went back to the mound in the bottom of the ninth and got three big outs, his last three of the game, to force extra innings. He opened the frame with his seventh strikeout of the game, and after a base hit to left, he got two infield popups to get the Warriors to the 10th inning.

Warheit retired ESU in order in the top of the 10th, and Seton Hill threatened in the bottom of the inning but didn't score against junior Ryan Beck. An infield single and Beck's throwing error while trying to get the lead runner on a sacrifice bunt put runners at first and second with one out, but Beck got a flyout and then won a lengthy battle to strike out David McCarthy to end the inning.

In the top of the 11th, the Warriors followed the same formula they used in the eighth and ninth to produce the winning run. Junior 2B Ryan Guarino started the rally with a bunt for a base hit with one out and moved up on a groundout by Gallagher, and Griesemer followed with his third hit of the game, a double inside the first base line, to put ESU ahead 6-5.

Stare sent the Warriors to the winners bracket with a perfect bottom of the 11th while facing the No. 8, No. 9 and No. 1 hitters in the Griffins' order to seal his second career save. He struck out the first two batters before getting Nick Erminio to ground out to Gallagher at shortstop for the final out of the game.

The late heroics overshadowed the early offense that ESU gave Gigliotti for one of the few times in his 10 starts this season. The Warriors went ahead 2-0 in the top of the first on a two-out, two-RBI single by freshman DH Eric Forth, but Seton Hill used a one-out walk, a long double by All-Region third baseman Tom DeAngelis and a sacrifice fly off the bat of Mike Leviseur to score just the fourth earned run off Gigliotti all season.

Knott gave ESU a 3-1 lead with an RBI single in the third, but the Warriors left runners on second and third with one out and Seton Hill took advantage with four runs in the bottom of the frame.

Gigliotti got the first two outs before issuing a seemingly harmless walk to DeAngelis to face the left-handed hitting Leviseur. DeAngelis stole second and Leviseur followed with a double to right to make it 3-2. Jared Littler tied it with a base hit to center as Leviseur scored on a close play at the plate, and McCarthy drilled a two-run single to left to complete the four-run frame.

While the Warriors produced 12 base runners off Raraigh, on five hits and seven walks, they left a runner in scoring position in both the fourth and fifth innings and didn't threaten in the sixth and seventh – but the offense that managed minimal run support for Gigliotti through most of his outstanding season came through when it mattered most.

Gigliotti finished the game with seven strikeouts, three walks and nine hits allowed in 9.0 innings. His ERA, which was 0.45 entering the game, moves to 1.04 with eight earned runs allowed in 69.0 innings this season. He has 80 strikeouts, 14 walks and 35 hits allowed for an opponents' batting average of .151.

Beck picked up his first win of the season to move to 1-5 despite several strong starts down the stretch, and Stare notched his second save. Jon Murphy threw the final 2.0 innings for Seton Hill in relief of Raraigh, Alex Haines and Warheit and falls to 4-2.

In the first two games of the regional, No. 2 seed Mercyhurst opened the tournament with a 7-2 win over Winston-Salem State and No. 1 Millersville posted a 3-1 win over Concord.

ESU and Mercyhurst will meet on Saturday night in a rematch of the Lakers' 6-5 (11 inn.) win on the first day of the PSAC Tournament last Wednesday in Johnstown. Mercyhurst won its first three PSAC Tournament games in extra innings before blowing out IUP to earn its first conference title.

Concord and Winston-Salem State will play in an elimination game on Saturday at 11 a.m., followed by Millersville and Seton Hill at 2:30 p.m. Seton Hill would be knocked out of the double elimination tournament with a loss. ESU will play in the nightcap for the second straight day.

Warriors Notes
* Gigliotti tied Mark Cannon (1982-85) with his 39th career start.
* He extended his career record for strikeouts to 238, and moved into second with 80 strikeouts in a season. He trails only Joel Bennett's 100 strikeouts (78.1 IP) in 1991.
* He moved into 4th in career innings pitched with 217.2.
* Gigliotti's streak of seven consecutive complete games came to an end despite throwing 9.0 innings in a game for just the second time in his career.
* His 1.04 ERA is almost six-tenths of a run lower than the lowest ERA posted by an ESU pitcher since 1985, and is the fourth-lowest since 1968.
* Gigliotti was named the NCBWA Atlantic Region Pitcher of the Year on Wednesday, the Daktronics Atlantic Region Pitcher of the Year on Thursday, and was named to the College Baseball Lineup Division II All Star Team on Friday.

* A large, vocal contingent of Warriors fans provided their support alongside the third-base dugout.
* First pitch was at 8:05 p.m. and the time of game was 3:27. The game was originally scheduled for 6 p.m. but the day's first game was pushed back two hours to 1 p.m. due to rain. The Millersville-Concord game was played in 1:58.