Box Scores
W 7-3
L 9-3

DINWIDDIE, Va. - Senior right-hander Tyler Eckman threw 6.0 innings without allowing an earned run in a 7-3 win in the opener as East Stroudsburg University split a non-conference baseball doubleheader vs. Pitt-Johnstown on Friday afternoon in Virginia.

ESU (8-6) dropped the second game, 9-3, as Pitt-Johnstown (9-8) scored eight runs in the bottom of the fifth inning after the Warriors held a 3-1 lead.

ESU is ranked No. 5 and Pitt-Johnstown No. 10 in this week's NCBWA Division II Atlantic Region poll. The two schools meet again twice on Saturday in a doubleheader beginning at 11 a.m.

Eckman allowed three runs, all unearned, scattered nine hits, struck out four and didn't issue a walk to improve to 3-0 in three starts this spring. Freshman Connor Johnson retired all three hitters he faced in the seventh.

Eckman has yet to allow an earned run in 18.0 innings, yielding just five unearned runs and 14 hits with 17 strikeouts and four walks. He notched his 10th career win and also has nine career saves, all in 2015, to set ESU's single-season record and earn first team All-PSAC East honors as a relief pitcher.

In the second game, ESU scored twice in the third and once in the top of the fifth, but UPJ scored eight runs on seven hits and four walks in the bottom of the frame to secure the split.

Senior LHP/OF Ian Allen didn't allow a hit in the first 4.0 innings in the nightcap before UPJ's big inning. Allen led the Warriors at the plate in the twinbill, going 3-for-8 with a walk, two RBI and a run. Redshirt senior 2B Jay Young was 2-for-6 with three walks, an RBI and two runs.

Freshman SS Joey Paolini was 2-for-4 in the opener and hit his first career home run, a solo shot, in the seventh inning.

Allen, the PSAC East Athlete of the Week and NCBWA DII Atlantic Region Hitter of the Week on March 6, is hitting .463 with a .547 on-base percentage and .907 slugging percentage through his first 14 games with 24 RBI and 18 runs.

GAME 1 - W 7-3

The Warriors scored four runs in the top of the first for all the support that Eckman would need.

Young walked and stole second, Allen singled, redshirt senior DH Conner Crookham lifted a sacrifice fly, and Allen stole second and scored on an RBI single by redshirt senior 1B Dylan Tamecki for a 2-0 lead. Junior C Steven Zimmerman, Jr. and junior 3B Laine Renaud both singled to load the bases, and redshirt senior OF Casey Saverio belted a two-out, two-run double for a 4-0 edge.

Both teams plated single runs in both the fourth and fifth innings. In ESU's fourth, Paolini singled and scored on an RBI double by Allen, and in the fifth, Renaud and Saverio singled, Young walked and Allen followed with a free pass to bring home Renaud.

Eckman stranded two baserunners in the fourth, one in the fifth and two in the sixth as the Warriors yielded three total runs while committing an error in each inning.

Paolini hit a two-out solo homer for an insurance run in the top of the seventh, and Johnson got a groundout, a lineout and a flyout in the bottom half. Johnson made his first career relief appearance after making three starts, including a win vs. 2016 NCAA DII Tournament team Shepherd.

Allen, Renaud, Saverio and Paolini all had two of ESU's 10 hits, and Young drew three walks in the leadoff spot.

GAME 2 - L 9-3

ESU took a 2-0 lead in the third as redshirt freshman OF Tom Nuneviller hit a leadoff triple and scored on an RBI single by junior OF Charles Edwards, who stole second and scored on an RBI single by Young.

UPJ got on the board in the bottom of the fourth, which ESU answered in the fifth on a single by Young and an RBI single by redshirt sophomore C Mike Sulcoski.

UPJ's eight-run fifth included a three-run homer by Luke Williams, and the Warriors used three pitchers to get out of the frame after Allen's no-hitter was broken up by a leadoff single by Tanner Cook.

Brady Walker earned the win for UPJ, throwing 6.0 innings and allowing three runs (two earned).

Young had two of ESU's eight hits, and Allen (double), Sulcoski (double) and Nuneviller (triple) grabbed extra-base hits.