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EAST STROUDSBURG – Junior catcher Eric Forth hit a walk-off single in the bottom of the seventh inning of the nightcap to lift East Stroudsburg University to a 4-3 win and a doubleheader sweep of Mansfield in PSAC East baseball on Saturday afternoon at Mitterling Field.

Junior Matt Smith threw a three-hitter in a 5-1 win in game 1 for the Warriors (15-8, 4-4), who won this weekend's series, 3-1, after dropping the first game of Friday's doubleheader at Mansfield.

Junior Ryan Lubreski won his fourth straight complete game in a 3-2 win in Friday's nightcap and the Warriors secured the series win on Saturday. ESU has won the season series, 3-1, the last two years (2012-13) and split the previous two years (2010-11).

Senior outfielder Eric Boyer doubled to lead off the seventh inning in game two, and after a pair of intentional walks, Forth came through with a one-out single to right field to plate the winning run.

Junior outfielder Chris Knott was 3-for-5 with three doubles, two walks, four RBI and a run on Saturday and 6-for-11 with four doubles, a triple, a home run, six RBI and three runs for the weekend. He extended his hitting streak to 11 games, batting .500 (19-for-38) with 7 doubles, 2 triples, 2 home runs, 14 RBI and 11 runs during the stretch.

The Warriors hit .314 with 33 hits in four games while holding Mansfield to a .250 average with just four extra-base hits.

Saturday was ESU's second annual Military Appreciation Day, which included the presentation of an 80-foot by 40-foot American flag, donated by Pocono Raceway, during the national anthem. The names of veterans affiliated with the ESU and Mansfield baseball programs were read between innings, and Robyn Smith performed the national anthem and “God Bless America” during the first game.

ESU, which opened PSAC East play two weeks ago with a 1-3 series against Shippensburg, will take a 4-4 divisional record into next weekend's series with defending Division II champion West Chester (16-9-1, 7-1), which was idle this weekend.

Game 1

The Warriors never trailed as Smith won for the fourth time in five career starts for the Warriors. The right-hander, a transfer from Northampton CC, scattered three singles in his first career complete game and faced one batter over the minimum over the final 5.0 innings.

ESU made its six hits count and drew five walks from three Mansfield pitchers. The Warriors took a 1-0 lead in the first as senior 2B Joe Bennie led off with a single, stole second and scored on a single by redshirt freshman 3B Drew Hercik.

After Mansfield tied it on a sacrifice fly in the top of the second, ESU re-took the lead in the bottom half. Knott reached on an error to start the inning, stole second, moved to third on a wild pitch and scored on a sacrifice fly by junior SS Eric Linares.

The Warriors plated two insurance runs in the fifth on a two-out, two-RBI double by Knott. They got another in the sixth as Forth hit a leadoff double and scored on a two-out single by Bennie.

Smith improved to 4-1 with a 2.22 ERA in 24.1 innings. He has allowed just 15 hits, struck out 17 and walked nine after a five-strikeout, two-walk performance on Saturday.

Quin Taylor (3.0 IP, 3 hits, 2 runs-1 earned, 3 strikeouts, 3 walks) took the loss for Mansfield.

Game 2

ESU built a 3-0 lead through three innings before Mansfield tied it in the fifth, but the Warriors capitalized on Boyer's leadoff double in the seventh to win the series.

The Warriors led 1-0 after the first on an RBI single by senior 1B Brian Ernst, then added two in the third on a two-out, two-run double by Knott. Ernst singled and junior 1B Mike Tenaglia followed with a drive to left-center, which appeared to clear the fence, but was credited with a ground-rule double. Knott drove in the runs with a double to dead center, and moved to third on a wild pitch before Mansfield starter Joey Zuniga (complete game) got out of the inning.

Junior Keenan Stare (5.0 IP, 8 strikeouts) was sharp on the mound, facing the minimum through the first three innings and striking out five straight. The Mounties got one back in the fourth and tied it with two runs in the top of the fifth, but Stare got an inning-ending groundout to Linares at short to end the threat.

ESU had base runners in the fifth, sixth and seventh and finally pushed the go-ahead run across in its final at bat.

The Warriors loaded the bases with one out in the sixth as Knott hit a leadoff double, freshman OF John Armbrust and Linares walked, but a force play at home and a strikeout dashed their scoring chances.

After junior Colin Taylor (2.0 IP, 1 hit) pitched around a one-out, two-base error in the seventh, the Warriors went back to work. Boyer doubled off the first-base bag and moved to third on a wild pitch with one out. The Mounties elected to walk Tenaglia and Knott to load the bases for Forth, who singled through the right side.

Boyer scored the game-winning, walk-off run for the second time in a week. He hit a leadoff single and scored on a two-out single by Knott in a 3-2 (8 inn.) win in the first game of a sweep of the University of the Sciences last Saturday.

Eight of the Warriors' nine starters had a hit and Linares was 0-for-1 with two walks at the bottom of the lineup. Hercik, Boyer, Ernst and Knott had two hits each and the first six batters in the order were 12-for-21.