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EAST STROUDSBURG – East Stroudsburg University will enter its third PSAC Baseball Tournament in four seasons as the No. 3 seed in the PSAC East after the Warriors split this weekend's series with No. 20-ranked Millersville, falling 3-2 and 6-3 in Saturday's doubleheader at Mitterling Field.

ESU (29-16, 13-11) had the tying run on third base in the opener, and got the tying run to the plate in the nightcap, but Millersville (36-14, 18-6) was able to secure the PSAC East regular season title with its win in game one.

The Warriors swept Friday's twinbill at Millersville, 2-0 and 4-3, to clinch their PSAC Tournament berth.  (complete recap)

Senior Brian Ernst set a school record with 15 strikeouts in a three-hit shutout in the opener on Friday, and junior Ryan Lubreski improved to 7-0 to tie the school record for single-season wins as ESU scored four two-out runs in the fifth inning in game two.

ESU entered the weekend listed No. 7 in the NCAA Division II Atlantic Region rankings and helped itself with a series split against No. 2 Millersville. The top five teams in the regional rankings following the PSAC Tournament will advance to the NCAA Tournament, after regional No. 3 Seton Hill failed to secure the WVIAC's automatic bid.

ESU won or split each of its last five PSAC East series after opening 1-3 against Shippensburg. The Warriors went 3-1 against Mansfield and West Chester in consecutive weekends, and split with Bloomsburg, Kutztown and Millersville.

ESU will play Gannon, the No. 2 seed in the PSAC West, in its PSAC Tournament opener on Wednesday at 3:30 p.m. at Point Stadium in Johnstown. West Chester clinched the PSAC East's No. 4 seed with two walk-off wins over Kutztown, in 14 and 8 innings, on Saturday. Divisional seedings are as follows:

PSAC East
1. Millersville (36-14, 18-6)
2. Kutztown (32-13, 16-8)
3. ESU (29-16, 13-11)
4. West Chester (21-24-1, 11-13)

PSAC West
1. California (33-16, 15-9)
2. Gannon (23-17, 15-9)
3. Mercyhurst (30-18, 15-9)
4. Slippery Rock (31-19, 13-11)

Game 1

ESU spotted Millersville a 3-0 lead through three innings, then battled back against Millersville's Chris Murphy (12-1, 1.69 ERA) but couldn't push the tying run across in the seventh.

Junior DH Mike Tenaglia got the Warriors on the board with a one-out solo home run in the sixth, his third of the year in his first season at ESU.

In the seventh, redshirt sophomore OF Andy Brandstetter hit a one-out triple and scored on a groundout by redshirt freshman pinch-hitter Matt Walewski to make it 3-2. Senior 2B Joe Bennie reached on an error and Ernst singled to get the tying run to third, but Murphy got a flyout to end it.

Junior Matt Smith went the first 6.0 innings on the mound for ESU, allowing three runs (two earned) on seven hits with three strikeouts and two walks.

Millersville scored one run in the first and two in the third while leaving five runners on base in the first three innings. Smith retired nine of the 10 batters he faced in the fourth through sixth innings before junior Colin Taylor came on to pitch the seventh.

ESU had eight hits off Murphy, including a two-hit game from Brandstetter. Jeremy Musser and Zach Stone, Millersville's No. 2 and No. 3 hitters, were both 2-for-4.

Game 2

Millersville once again got an early lead, taking a 4-0 advantage through two innings, before the Warriors cut into the deficit.

ESU got its first hit on a ground-rule double by junior SS Eric Linares with two outs in the third, and Bennie followed with an RBI single to make it 4-1.

Senior Colin Kelly relieved junior Keenan Stare in the top of the third and blanked the Marauders for 3.0 innings, striking out four with one walk and one hit allowed.

Both teams scored single runs in the sixth and seventh innings. In the sixth, Tenaglia doubled and scored on an RBI single by junior catcher Eric Forth but ESU left two on base.

In the seventh, Walewski led off with a pinch-hit single and scored on a single by Boyer, and after a two-out error brought the tying run to the plate, Millersville closer Adam Zipko (1.2 IP) got a groundout to record his seventh save.

Jim McDade improved to 3-4 with the win for Millersville, going 5.2 innings and allowing two runs on seven hits.

ESU had nine hits with Tenaglia going 2-for-4. Three players – leadoff hitter Evan King, Musser and Kurt Seiders – had two hits for Millersville.


Game Notes

* ESU recognized nine seniors – Joe Bennie, Eric Boyer, Nico Delerme, Brian Ernst, Mike Glassic, Colin Kelly, Zac Menendez, Michael Muglia and Brandon Snyder – before the doubleheader.

* Boyer moved into a tie for 2nd on ESU's career RBI list with 115. Kevin Thompson (2005-09) holds the school record with 124.

* Ernst moved into a tie for 6th on ESU's career hits list with 190. He also moved into 5th in career strikeouts (182) with his school record 15 strikeouts on Friday at Millersville.

* Kelly made his 42nd career appearance, tied for 10th in school history.

* Muglia got the final out of the seventh inning in game two, and Snyder, a left-handed relief pitcher and former first baseman, got an at bat in the seventh.

* ESU President Marcia Welsh, Ph.D., threw out the day's first pitch.

* Crystal Martinez, a senior at Pocono Mountain East High School who is living with Cystic Fibrosis, sang the national anthem as part of ESU's Cystic Fibrosis Awareness Day. ESU has raised more than $7,500 for the Allentown chapter of the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation in the last three years. To support the Warriors in this fight, please visit the link on ESU's website, esuwarriors.com.

* The Warriors wore purple wristbands, the color of Cystic Fibrosis.