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Recap: Game 1 - ESU 8, Winston-Salem 6 (10 inn.)

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - Seton Hill is the only unbeaten team remaining through two days of the NCAA Division II Baseball Atlantic Regional after earning a 9-3 win over East Stroudsburg University in the winners bracket on Friday night at Gene Hooks Field at Wake Forest University.

The Warriors (34-17), who opened with a come-from-behind 8-6 (10 inn.) win over host Winston-Salem on Thursday afternoon, face PSAC East foe Millersville on Saturday in an elimination game at 11 a.m. The winner will advance to play Seton Hill at 6 p.m. Winston-Salem faces Shippensburg in the day's second game at 2:30 p.m.

It will be a quick turnaround for ESU, which waited out a lightning delay of one hour, 24 minutes in a game that went four hours, 33 minutes and ended at 10:30 p.m.

ESU trailed 6-0 going to the bottom of the fourth inning when play was halted, and put together a two-run inning to get back into it after the game resumed.

Seton Hill (41-15) added an insurance run in the sixth inning, then scored twice in the eighth after ESU scratched out a run but left the bases loaded in the seventh.

The Warriors had seven hits and drew eight walks from three Seton Hill pitchers, but left 12 runners on base and at least one in seven of nine innings.

Junior OF Chris Knott, an All-Region first team selection and one of the stars in the win over Winston-Salem, stayed hot at the plate, improving to 6-for-6 with four RBI, three runs, three walks and a sacrifice fly in the regional. He was 2-for-2 with an RBI, run and three walks against Seton Hill and 4-for-4 with a double, three RBI, two runs and a sacrifice fly for the go-ahead run in the extra-inning win on Thursday.

Seton Hill had 14 hits and handed ESU junior Ryan Lubreski (8-1) his first loss of the year after winning his first eight decisions and setting a school record for single-season victories. Lubreski went 4.0 innings, allowing six runs (five earned) on nine hits, and was relieved by freshman Brandon Holup following the lengthy delay.

Holup went 2.0 innings, gave up one run on three hits, struck out four and walked two. Junior Jake Ruch threw 1.1 innings (2 hits, 2 runs), redshirt sophomore Max Mueller struck out two and didn't allow a baserunner in 1.1 innings, and redshirt senior Brandon Snyder retired the only batter he faced.

Junior catcher Jimmy Graziano was 1-for-3 with a walk after replacing junior Eric Forth, who left due to injury in the top of the fourth inning just before the delay.

When play resumed, senior 2B Joe Bennie walked, Graziano doubled to the gap in left center and redshirt freshman 3B Drew Hercik drilled an RBI single to put ESU's first run on the board. Graziano scored on a groundout by redshirt sophomore OF Andy Brandstetter, who also came on defensively in the fourth inning after an injury to freshman OF John Armbrust.

In the seventh, Bennie and senior 1B Brian Ernst walked and Knott delivered an RBI single to make it 7-3. Graziano walked to load the bases before Seton Hill reliever Brad Schnelle came on to get a groundout to end the inning.

Brett Sullivan threw 5.1 innings, allowing two runs, to improve to 9-2 for Seton Hill. Austin Sleek threw 1.1 innings, including four walks, before Schnelle came on to go 2.1 innings (2 strikeouts, 2 walks) for his first save.

Pat McCarthy was 5-for-5 with four stolen bases and three runs to lead Seton Hill. Sophomore 3B Nick Sell, named the NCBWA Atlantic Region Player of the Year earlier on Friday, was 1-for-4 with an RBI groundout in the first and an RBI single in the sixth.

Catcher Mike Cima, another All-Region selection, was 2-for-5 and hit a two-run double in the eighth. No. 9 hitter Brad Comport hit a two-run homer in the fourth.


GAME NOTES

* Ernst had a single in the third inning, giving him 199 career hits. He struck out six in 6.1 innings on Thursday against Winston-Salem, giving him 201 career strikeouts. No player in PSAC history has 200 strikeouts and hits in a career.

* Lubreski was 8-0 with a 1.67 ERA in 70.0 innings entering Friday's start. A transfer from UMass in his first season at ESU, he was named to the Daktronics and NCBWA Atlantic Region second teams this week and had the longest undefeated start in school history.

* Jr. SS Eric Linares has 137 assists this season, second-most in school history behind Joe Vadala, who had 154 in 1995.

* Graziano's double in the fourth inning was his second career hit and first career extra-base hit.

* ESU is one of two teams in the region with a winning record against Millersville (39-17), the tournament's No. 1 seed. The Warriors split the regular season , 2-2, and beat the Marauders 6-2 in the second game of their four-game run to the PSAC championship last week in Johnstown.

* Shippensburg stayed alive with a 4-1 win over Millersville and regional Pitcher of the Year Chris Murphy in the second game on Friday. In the opener, Winston-Salem was down to its last out against Concord before a bases loaded double in the ninth propelled the Rams to a 7-4 win.

* Seton Hill is the only team at 2-0. ESU, Millersville, Shippensburg and Winston-Salem all face possible elimination on Saturday.

* ESU is in the NCAA Tournament for the second time in three years and the third time in school history. The Warriors finished third in the Atlantic Regional in 2011.

* ESU gained the PSAC's automatic bid with its first conference title since 1971.