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LANCASTER – Zak Blair hit a three-run home run in the eighth inning and East Stroudsburg University's rally in the bottom of the ninth ended with the bases loaded as Mercyhurst edged the Warriors, 4-1, in the winners bracket of the NCAA Division II Atlantic Regional on Saturday night at Clipper Magazine Stadium.

ESU suffered its first loss of the tournament after posting a 6-5 (11 inn.) come-from-behind win over Seton Hill in its first game on Friday night. The Warriors will take on Concord in an elimination game for both teams on Sunday at 3:30 p.m., with the winner advancing to another must-win game at 7 p.m. Mercyhurst and top seed Millersville, both 2-0, will play the first game at 12 p.m. on Sunday.

The pitchers' duel between ESU redshirt sophomore Andy Noga and Mercyhurst's first team All-Region pick Eric Aschley was as good as advertised through the first seven innings, as each team managed to push a run across to forge a 1-1 tie before both had opportunities late.

In the end, the Warriors couldn't replicate their ninth-inning comeback against Mercyhurst from the first day of the PSAC Tournament on May 11, when they scored four in the final frame before falling 6-5 in 11 innings.

On Saturday night, ESU (26-19) took a 1-0 lead with two outs in the bottom of the sixth inning, as freshman OF Chris Knott and freshman DH Eric Forth followed with a double to the gap in right-center to bring Knott all the way around to score for the game's first run.

Mercyhurst (41-10) answered right back, however, getting a leadoff double from cleanup hitter Ethan Santora in the top of the seventh and moving him around with a pair of fly balls to tie the game at 1-1.

The Warriors strung together back-to-back two-out singles by junior SS Evan Gallagher and redshirt junior 3B Jake Griesemer in the bottom of the seventh before Aschley got out of trouble, and the Lakers took the lead in their next at-bat.

Noga surrendered just four hits in his first 7.0 innings, but catcher Adam Brentlinger led off the eighth with a single and shortstop Jonahan Keppler, the leadoff hitter, singled and moved to second on the throw after a sacrifice bunt. Blair, the first team All-PSAC West second baseman, followed with his second home run of the season and just the second in six games in the tournament with a shot to right field to put Mercyhurst in front, 4-1.

ESU got a pair of one-out base runners in the eighth on a single by Knott and a walk by Forth, but sophomore C Nico Delerme's drive to deep right was snagged at the wall by Shane Latshaw and Aschley once again got out of the inning unscathed.

After Noga finished his complete game by pitching around a one-out single in the ninth, the Warriors went back to work offensively but couldn't dent the scoreboard despite putting the tying run on base.

Junior 2B Ryan Guarino led off the inning with a single to knock Aschley from the game and bring in closer Sam O'Neill, and after getting the first out, Griesemer hit a ground ball down the third base line that was called foul and eventually flied out to right.

Down to their last out for the second straight game, sophomore OF Eric Boyer and sophomore 1B Brian Ernst drew back-to-back walks for the Warriors to load the bases. Knott represented the winning run when he stepped to the plate, but O'Neill won the battle, getting a ground ball to Keppler at short to end the game.

The Warriors left a total of 13 runners on base, 10 against Aschley in the first eight innings and three against O'Neill in the ninth, to come up with just one run despite several opportunities against one of the top pitching staffs in Division II.

Aschley nearly replicated his outing against ESU from last week, going 8.0 innings and allowing one run on nine hits with eight strikeouts and three walks. He gave up one run on four hits, struck out six and walked two in 8.0 innings in the PSAC Tournament, but this time the bullpen held the lead.

ESU's nine hits included two each from Gallagher and Griesemer in the No. 1 and No. 2 spots in the order and two from Knott in the No. 5 hole. Forth was 1-for-2 with a double and two walks, Delerme and Guarino also had hits, and Ernst drew two walks in the cleanup spot.

Noga threw his sixth complete game of the season for the Warriors, allowing four runs on eight hits with seven strikeouts and no walks, while tying the school record with 12 starts in a single season.

The Division II leader in fewest walks per 9 innings, Noga didn't issue a walk for the eighth time in his 12 starts. He has a 6-5 record, 2.61 ERA, 58 strikeouts and five walks in a team-high 72.1 innings this season.

Noga would get another start if the Warriors play their way into the College World Series, which will require four straight wins to finish the Atlantic Regional – two on Sunday (3:30 and 7 p.m.) and two on Monday (1 and 4:30 p.m.).

In the day's first two games, Concord stayed alive with an 11-3 win over Winston-Salem State and Millersville improved to 2-0 and knocked out Seton Hill with a 5-3 win. The schedule for Sunday is below:

12 p.m. – Millersville vs. Mercyhurst
3:30 p.m. – ESU vs. Concord
7 p.m. – ESU/Concord winner vs. Millersville/Mercyhurst loser