Box Scores
Oakland City - W 8-4
Upper Iowa - W 9-6

Morning Call: ESU reloads for another playoff run

CLEARWATER, Fla. – Freshman 3B Robert Patete was 5-for-9 with five RBI and senior Ryan Beck recorded the save in both games as East Stroudsburg University improved to 9-2 with two wins on its first day in Florida on Friday.

Patete led a bottom of the order that went 8-for-14 with three RBI and five runs in an 8-4 win over Oakland City (Ind.), and had a pair of two-out, two-run singles in a 9-6 win over Upper Iowa in the Warriors' second game of their travel day.

Sophomore Keenan Stare improved to 4-0 on the mound against Oakland City, going 5.0 innings with six strikeouts, three walks, three hits and two runs allowed. He was backed by an offense that had 14 hits, including three each from Patete and junior catcher Nico Delerme.

Delerme was 3-for-5 with a double and three runs, Patete was 3-for-5 with two doubles, an RBI and a run and senior 2B Ryan Guarino was 2-for-4 with 2 RBI and a run in the 7th, 8th and 9th spots.

All three were in the middle of a two-out rally in the third after ESU took a 1-0 lead on a bases loaded walk by senior SS Evan Gallagher in the second. Guarino had an RBI single after Delerme doubled and Patete singled to give the Warriors a 2-0 lead.

Oakland City tied it at 2-2 in the third, but ESU went ahead for good with three in the sixth. Patete had an RBI double and junior OF Zac Menendez hit a two-out, two-RBI single to extend the advantage to 5-2.

The Warriors got two more in the eighth, again with two outs. Gallagher and junior OF Eric Boyer singled and junior 1B Brian Ernst drilled a two-run triple to make it 7-3 ESU.

Beck came on to get out of a two-on, nobody-out jam in the eighth and the Warriors pushed their lead to 8-4 with another run in the ninth, as Delerme singled, Patete doubled and Guarino plated Delerme with a sacrifice fly.

Beck recorded the seventh and eighth saves of his career, third-most in school history, getting five of his eight outs via strikeout without allowing a hit. He had a 2.0-inning save with three strikeouts against Oakland City and struck out both batters he faced against Upper Iowa.

In the nightcap, Patete was 2-for-4 with four RBI and the Warriors had eight hits and drew nine walks.

ESU scored three runs in the 2nd, 3rd and 4th innings to take a commanding 9-3 lead. Menendez had a two-out, two-RBI single in the second and Patete had two-out, two-RBI singles in both the third and fourth innings. Sophomore 1B Mark Romano also plated a run in the third with a groundout and sophomore catcher Eric Forth (1-for-2, 3 walks) had a run-scoring walk in the fourth.

Sophomore Keith Moyer won his third straight start to open the season. The right-hander struck out eight in 6.0 innings, walked three and allowed three runs on four hits.

ESU, ranked No. 4 in last week's NCBWA Atlantic Region poll, is back on the field for two games on Saturday. The Warriors take on Upper Iowa for a second time at 10 a.m. and play Cedarville (Ohio) at 1:30 p.m.