Box Scores
Game 1 - W 8-5
Game 2 - L 11-4 (8 inn.)

Photo Gallery

EAST STROUDSBURG – East Stroudsburg University improved to 25-12 overall and 11-9 in the PSAC East baseball standings with a doubleheader split against West Chester on Monday afternoon at Mitterling Field.

ESU won the opener, 8-5, to secure its fifth season with 25+ wins in the last six years, before West Chester (19-12, 12-8) came back for an 11-4 (8 inn.) win in the nightcap. WCU plated eight runs with two outs in the top of the eighth inning to earn the split.

Redshirt sophomore 3B Matt Walewski led the Warriors offensively, going 5-for-7 with a double, three RBI and three runs. Three other players – senior 1B Mike Tenaglia, redshirt sophomore SS Drew Hercik and sophomore catcher Ryan Richards – had three hits each.

Senior outfielder Chris Knott set his sixth ESU career record with his 44th career double in the opener, one day after setting the home run record (19) with four homers in a sweep at Mansfield on Sunday.

Knott holds ESU's career records for doubles (44), triples (16) and home runs (19) and is the only player to hold school records in all three categories among the 16 PSAC baseball-playing institutions. He also has records for extra-base hits (79), total bases (332) and RBI (144) and is one hit from becoming the fifth player in school history with 200 career hits.

The Warriors are off until Friday when they host Bloomsburg, currently 21-13 (13-5), on Friday at 1 p.m. in the first half of this weekend's PSAC East series. The Huskies host Shippensburg on Wednesday.

ESU remains ranked No. 4 in this week's NCBWA Atlantic Region poll, maintaining a spot in the top five for the ninth straight week and the 24th time in 45 polls since the start of the 2011 season.

The game two loss ended a six-game winning streak for the Warriors. Before their run of five 25-win seasons in the last six years, ESU had four 25-win seasons in program history.

Game 1 – W 8-5

Walewski was 3-for-3 with two RBI and two runs, and junior Andrew Furber (5.2 IP, 5 hits, 4 runs), freshman Dan Woodley (0.1 IP) and senior Keenan Stare (1.0 IP, 1 hit, 1 run) combined to hold West Chester to six hits.

ESU had two three-run innings, in the second and sixth, to keep West Chester at bay. Walewski had a leadoff single, Richards doubled, freshman OF Ian Allen hit a sacrifice fly and Knott had a bases-loaded, two-out ground-rule double to give the Warriors a 3-0 lead in the second.

Richards doubled again to plate Walewski in the third, and Walewski lifted a sacrifice fly to score Hercik as ESU led 5-1 after four innings.

West Chester scored three runs in the top of the sixth to close within 5-4 before Woodley came on to relieve Furber, who surrendered just one run on four hits in the first 5.0 innings.

ESU scored three runs, all unearned, in the sixth after Knott and redshirt senior catcher Nico Delerme walked to start the inning. WCU ace reliever Kyle Weary had a throwing error on a sacrifice bunt by redshirt junior OF Andy Brandstetter, then Walewski singled to score Delerme and Brandstetter scored on a double steal.

Stare, who set ESU's career saves record on Saturday against Mansfield, entered in a non-save situation in the seventh inning. West Chester got one run on a hit batter, single and sacrifice fly, but Stare limited the damage as ESU prevailed.

Game 2 – L 11-4 (8 inn.)

ESU scored three runs in the fourth, but West Chester tied it at 3-3 in the fifth which ultimately forced extra innings.

In the eighth inning, Luke Mogle hit a two-out, pinch-hit RBI single to break the tie, the first of six straight hits for the Golden Rams which broke the game open.

Matt Petrizzi threw a complete game for West Chester, going all 8.0 innings. He allowed four runs on 11 hits, struck out 10 and walked two while throwing five wild pitches. He was also 2-for-8 with four RBI at the plate in the doubleheader.

Mike Raimo hit a leadoff homer for West Chester in the first inning and added another run on an RBI double by Rob Spekhardt in the fourth.

ESU opened the bottom of the fourth with five straight hits – singles by Forth and Walewski, a two-RBI double by Tenaglia, a single by Richards and an RBI single by Brandstetter – to take a 3-2 lead before Petrizzi got out of the inning.

West Chester tied it at 3-3 in the fifth as Raimo singled, moved to second on a groundout, third on a wild pitch and scored on an RBI groundout by Petrizzi.

Freshman left-hander Ian Allen (3.2 IP, 5 hits, 2 runs) got the start for ESU, which played six games in the last three days. Freshman Ben Bortz (4.0 IP, 6 hits, 5 runs) got ESU out of a one-out, bases loaded jam with two strikeouts in the sixth, but was responsible for four runs in the eighth. Bortz did not allow a run in his first 13.1 innings (seven games) this season.

Tenaglia had three hits and Forth and Walewski added two hits each for ESU, which had 11 hits in the nightcap and 21 on the afternoon.

West Chester had 15 hits in game two, including six in the eighth inning. Raimo and Spekhardt had three hits each.


NCBWA Atlantic Region poll
1. Seton Hill (9 first-place votes) (29-10) - 135 points, #2 last week
2. Millersville (5) (26-10) - 129, #3
3. Shippensburg (23-11) - 102, #1
4. ESU (24-11) - 88, #4
5. Shepherd (25-8) - 80, #6
6. Mercyhurst (20-10) - 66, #5
7. Concord (25-11) - 60, #7
8. Winston-Salem (31-14) - 49, #9
9. Slippery Rock (21-13) - 33, #8
10. Bloomsburg (21-13) - 21, RV

Dropped out: #10 Kutztown

Also receiving votes: West Chester (18-11) 6 points; Kutztown (18-15) 1.