Box Score

PHILADELPHIA - Redshirt junior outfielder Robert Bennie was 5-for-6 with two doubles and a triple to lead an 18-hit attack as No. 11-ranked East Stroudsburg University improved to 20-2 with a 15-7 win at Philadelphia University in non-conference baseball on Wednesday.

ESU, second in DII in runs per game (11.9) entering the week, scored 13 runs over the final five innings after falling behind 6-2 going to the top of the fifth.

The Warriors had 30 baserunners on 18 hits, eight walks and four hit batters to raise their DII-leading on-base percentage to .495.

Every ESU starter reached base at least twice, with seven reaching at least three times and Bennie (five hits), redshirt senior 3B Drew Hercik (hit, 3 walks), sophomore OF Christian Rishel (3 hits, HBP) and sophomore catcher Steven Zimmerman, Jr. (hit, walk, 2 HBP) all reaching at least four times.

Redshirt senior Cody Klinger was the winning pitcher in relief, throwing 6.0 innings and allowing two runs on six hits with three strikeouts and two walks.

ESU led 11-6 in the top of the eighth inning when Bennie broke the game open with a two-out, bases clearing double.

Bennie had three RBI and a run at the top of the order, junior OF Ian Allen was 2-for-5 with a walk and a run and redshirt junior SS Conner Crookham went 2-for-4 with a home run, three RBI, two runs and two of ESU's five sacrifice flies.

Hercik was 1-for-3 with three walks and two runs in the cleanup spot, followed by redshirt senior 1B Matt Walewski (0-for-3, walk, HBP, sacrifice fly, RBI, run) and Rishel (3-for-5, double, HR, HBP, 2 RBI, 2 runs).

Redshirt junior OF Casey Saverio was 2-for-4 with a double, walk, sacrifice fly, RBI and run, Zimmerman went 1-for-3 with a triple, walk, 2 HBP and three runs and redshirt junior 2B Jay Young was 2-for-3 with a walk, sacrifice fly, three RBI and two runs.

Zimmerman tripled and scored on a sacrifice fly by Young, and Bennie tripled and scored on a sacrifice fly by Crookham to tie the game at 2-2 in the top of the third.

After Philadelphia U scored three in the third and one in the fourth, the Warriors scored a pair of runs in both the fifth (including a Rishel RBI single) and sixth (starting with back-to-back singles by Young and Bennie) to make it 6-6.

Rishel gave ESU the lead with a solo homer to start the seventh, and the Warriors added two more on a Saverio walk, Zimmerman hit batter and an RBI single by Young.

ESU scored five more in the eighth, with three walks and two hit batters punctuated by Bennie's bases-clearing double.

Crookham hit a solo homer for ESU's final scoring in the ninth, and the Rams scored one run in the bottom of the inning to set the final margin.

Rishel, just a sophomore, hit his eighth home run of the season and the 10th of his career. His eight homers this year are already tied for fifth-most in a season in ESU history. Crookham's homer was his fifth of the season and 11th in his two years at ESU.

ESU entered the week ranked 2nd in DII in runs per game (11.9), 2nd in batting average (.386), 1st in on-base percentage (.490) and 2nd in slugging percentage (.622).

The Warriors have put together their second 10-game winning streak of the season. Two of the five 10-game streaks in school history have occurred this year.

ESU faces Kutztown in this weekend's four-game PSAC East series, which opens on Thursday at Kutztown and concludes Saturday at Mitterling Field. The Warriors will host their annual Military Appreciation Day at 1 p.m.


GAME NOTES

* Rishel entered the week ranked 14th in DII in batting average (.480) and on-base percentage (.557). He raised both by a few points on Wednesday to .488 (39-for-80) with a .564 on-base percentage.

* Five Warriors are hitting .400 entering this weekend's series - Rishel (.488), Crookham (.453), Bennie (.442), Hercik (.419) and Young (.406).

* Six Warriors ranked in the top 100 in DII in on-base percentage entering the week. ESU's current leaders are Rishel (.564), Hercik (.549), Crookham (.524), Zimmerman (.524), Allen (.519) and Bennie (.500).

* Bennie (2nd, 1.71) and Allen (3rd, 1.67) were among the DII leaders in runs per game entering the week. Both scored one run on Wednesday.