Box Scores
Game 1 - W 5-3
Game 2 - L 10-1

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PSAC Tournament website

PSAC Tournament (double elimination) (Wed.-Sat. in Butler, Pa.)
Wednesday
9:30 a.m. - West Chester (E #2) vs Slippery Rock (W #3)
12:30 p.m. - Mercyhurst (W #1) vs ESU (E #4)
3:30 p.m. - Seton Hill (W #2) vs Shippensburg (E #3)
6:30 p.m. - Millersville (E #1) vs California (W #4)


EAST STROUDSBURG - Sophomore Tyler Eckman, redshirt junior Matt Festa and redshirt sophomore Conner Crookham pitched East Stroudsburg University into the PSAC baseball tournament for the fourth time in six seasons as the Warriors won the opening game of Saturday's PSAC East doubleheader vs. Bloomsburg, 5-3, at Mitterling Field.

Eckman, who set an ESU record with nine saves this season, made his first career start and allowed just two runs in 5.0 innings of work. Festa, who threw a complete game in Friday's 9-2 game two win at Bloomsburg, pitched the sixth and Crookham struck out the side in the seventh for his first career save.

The Warriors came into the weekend needing three wins in the four-game series to earn a PSAC Tournament spot, and won the first three games - 6-3, 9-2 and 5-3 - with a trio of strong pitching performances from Festa, sophomore Ian Allen and Eckman.

ESU (28-17, 13-15) will be the No. 4 seed in the PSAC East in this week's PSAC Tournament, which will be held Wednesday through Saturday at Kelly Park in Butler. The Warriors will play the PSAC West's No. 1 seed in Wednesday's second game at 12:30 p.m.

ESU won the 2013 PSAC championship, its first since 1971, in its most recent PSAC Tournament appearance. The Warriors have also made recent PSAC trips in 2010 and 2011. ESU missed out on a tiebreaker for the No. 4 seed last spring.

The Warriors made the most of their six hits in the opener, scoring four runs in the first inning to take control.

Bloomsburg won game two, 10-1, with ESU resting most of its starters.

GAME 1 - W 5-3

Bloomsburg threatened in the first, with Eckman getting a lineout to left field to leave the bases loaded, before the Warriors jumped on BU starter Mike Warren with four runs in the bottom of the first.

Redshirt sophomore 3B Jay Young singled and redshirt sophomore OF Casey Saverio walked to start the inning, and junior 1B Dylan Tamecki hit a one-out RBI double to score Young for the game's first run.

Sophomore OF Ian Allen, who threw a complete game in ESU's 6-3 win in the series opener on Friday, lifted a sacrifice fly to plate Saverio - then redshirt junior 3B Drew Hercik hit a two-run homer, his second of the series, to give the Warriors a 4-0 lead.

Eckman stranded two more Huskies in the second, threw a 1-2-3 third and stranded a leadoff double in the fourth.

ESU added a run in the bottom of the fourth on an RBI single by freshman catcher Steven Zimmerman, Jr. to plate redshirt junior OF Matt Walewski, who was 2-for-3.

Bloomsburg got to Eckman with two runs in the fifth on a triple by Ryan Kirman to cut the ESU lead to 5-2.

Festa came on in relief in the sixth and allowed one run before getting out of a jam, leaving a key runner on third base.

Crookham, the Warriors' shortstop who returned earlier this week after missing three weeks due to injury, made his third pitching appearance of the season and struck out BU's three, four and five hitters to end the game.

GAME 2 - L 10-1

Bloomsburg had 14 hits off seven ESU pitchers, and broke open a 2-1 game with four runs in the top of the fifth inning.

Six players had hits for ESU, which scored an unearned run in the fourth.