Box Scores
W 13-6
W 3-2 (8 inn.)


Photo Galleries: Saturday  l  Sunday

EAST STROUDSBURG - Redshirt senior third baseman Drew Hercik had a big game offensively in a 13-6 win in the opener, and junior outfielder Ian Allen had a walk-off single in a 3-2 (8 inn.) win in the nightcap as No. 20 East Stroudsburg University completed a four-game sweep of IUP in non-conference baseball on Sunday afternoon at Mitterling Field.

Senior right-hander Brandon Holup allowed just two unearned runs in the first inning of the game two victory as ESU improved to 14-2 on the season.

The Warriors won both games Saturday, 27-5 and 2-1, getting strong pitching performances from redshirt senior Matt Festa and junior Tyler Eckman. The 27 runs in game one were an ESU record vs. a PSAC opponent.

Hercik, redshirt junior OF Robert Bennie and sophomore OF Christian Rishel all homered to lead a 15-hit attack in the opener on Sunday.

Hercik was 4-for-4 with a walk, double, home run, five RBI and four runs and Bennie, redshirt junior SS Conner Crookham, redshirt senior 1B Matt Walewski and redshirt junior 2B Jay Young all had two hits.

In game two, Holup yielded just four hits and only two that left the infield for his fourth career complete game. He struck out seven and walked three to outduel IUP (6-10) freshman Jeff Allen, who went 7.2 innings (3 runs, 6 hits, 8 strikeouts, 0 walks).

Junior SS Billy Sablinski had a two-out RBI single to tie the game at 2-2 in the fifth inning. In the seventh, sophomore catcher Steven Zimmerman, Jr. had a leadoff single, stole second and scored on Allen's two-out single to right.

Zimmerman was 2-for-3 with a double and two runs for ESU's only multi-hit game in the nightcap.

ESU hit .361 (44-for-122) in the four-game series, posting a .487 on-base percentage and .582 slugging percentage with 10 doubles, one triple and five home runs.

Hercik led the offense over the weekend, going 10-for-15 with two walks, a double, home run, 10 RBI and eight runs. Crookham was 5-for-12 with three walks, two doubles, a triple, home run, seven RBI and five runs.

The Warriors entered the weekend ranked second in NCAA Division II in batting (.397), on-base percentage (.497), slugging percentage (.667) and runs per game (13.0).

GAME 1 - W 13-6

The Warriors broke open a close game with two runs in the third, two in the fourth, one in the fifth and a six-run sixth inning to win the third game of the series.

Redshirt junior left-hander Marty Martens threw 4.0 innings (3 runs, 5 hits, 6 strikeouts, 2 walks) to earn the win. Junior Ben Bortz threw 2.0 innings, allowing an unearned run, and Crookham threw his first inning of the season in the seventh, allowing two unearned runs.

IUP pitcher Dan Sepic (3.1 IP, 6 runs) helped his own cause with a two-run double in the first inning, but the Warriors responded with two runs in the bottom half as Allen hit a one-out double, Hercik had an RBI single and Walewski an RBI double, both with two outs.

The Warriors took a 4-2 lead in the third. Crookham led off with a triple and scored on a double by Hercik, and after a walk by Saverio and hit by pitch by Zimmerman loaded the bases, Young had an infield RBI single for the inning's second run.

Hercik hit a two-run homer after Crookham walked in the fourth, and Bennie hit a  one-out solo homer in the fifth to stake the Warriors to a 7-4 lead after IUP scored two in the top half.

ESU's six-run sixth included five hits, two walks and a hit batter. Hercik walked, Walewski singled and Rishel launched a three-run homer to extend the lead to 10-4. After Zimmerman was hit by a pitch again, Bennie had an RBI single, Allen walked and Crookham and Hercik both had RBI singles, both with two outs.

Hercik's home run was his fourth of the season and the 13th of his career, ranking seventh in school history. Rishel's was his sixth of the season and the eighth in his career at ESU. Bennie's home run was also his sixth of the year.

ESU has 29 home runs in 16 games, already the fifth-most homers in program history.

GAME 2 - W 3-2

IUP scored a pair of runs on a two-out error in the first inning, but didn't manage any more offense off Holup, who went the distance on the mound.

IUP's Allen sat down the first nine Warriors in order before Bennie doubled to start the fourth, and Hercikdrove in ESU's first run with a two-out single.

Holup left the bases loaded in the top of the fifth, and ESU tied the game at 2-2 in the bottom half on a pair of two-out hits - a double by Zimmerman and a single by Sablinski.

Holup got out of the sixth with a double play, struck out the final two batters of the seventh after a single, and struck out the side in the eighth to turn it over to the Warriors offense.

Zimmerman had a leadoff single and stole second base after two strikeouts to set the table for Allen, who delivered ESU's first walk-off hit since a Hercik RBI single vs. Philadelphia U for one of the Warriors' four walk-off wins in 2013.

GAME NOTES
* Bennie extended his season-opening hit streak to 16 games with three hits on Sunday.
* Allen's walk-off single extended his hitting streak to 12 games.
* So. OF Christian Rishel had a 13-game hitting streak end in game two.

* Rishel (.464) leads six Warriors regulars hitting at least .400, along with Walewski (.449), Bennie (.439), Hercik (.434), Crookham (.432) and Young (.400).
* Allen is hitting .386, Zimmerman .372 and R-So. OF Casey Saverio .269.

* ESU has scored 201 runs in its first 16 games (12.6 runs per game).
* The Warriors are hitting .388 with a .496 on-base percentage and .647 slugging percentage.