Box Scores
L 11-5
L 7-3

EAST STROUDSBURG - Senior left-handed pitcher and outfielder Ian Allen became the sixth player in PSAC baseball history with 150 career strikeouts on the mound and 150 hits at the plate, but East Stroudsburg University dropped a pair of PSAC East games at Shippensburg on Sunday afternoon.

ESU (18-18-1, 8-11-1) and Shippensburg (21-18-1, 12-8) split this weekend's series, 2-2.  The Warriors won the first two games on Saturday, 4-3 and 10-3, before Ship posted 11-5 and 7-3 wins on Sunday.

Allen started and went 3.0 innings on the mound in the opener, and recorded his 150th career strikeout in the first inning. He joins Brian Ernst (2010-13), the only PSAC player with 200 hits and 200 strikeouts (both 201), as the only ESU players with 150 in both categories.

Allen, a two-time All-PSAC East selection and All-Region as a utility player in 2016, was 4-for-8 at the plate in the doubleheader, including 3-for-4 with a home run in the nightcap. He was 7-for-13 with two homers, seven RBI and four runs and reached base in 10 of his 16 plate appearances in the series.

Allen's two homers this weekend give him 18 in his career, one from the school record of 19 set by former teammate Chris Knott (2011-14).

He finished the afternoon with 152 career strikeouts and 190 career hits, with two weeks remaining in the regular season.

Allen also hit the 50-hit, 50-strikeout milestone this season (53 hits, 51 strikeouts) for the second time in his career (2015, 2017). Tim Bishop (1984) and Ernst (2012) are the only other ESU players with 50 in both categories, and Allen is the only player to do it twice.

Allen was one of six Warriors with multiple hits on Sunday. The other five had two each - redshirt freshman OF Tom Nuneviller (2-for-3), freshman OF Evan Steele (2-for-3), redshirt senior 1B Dylan Tamecki (2-for-6), junior C Steven Zimmerman, Jr. (2-for-6) and freshman SS Joey Paolini (2-for-7).

The Warriors sent nine pitchers to the mound, with Allen departing after three innings in a 5-2 game in the opener, and redshirt senior RHP Conner Crookham leaving after facing two batters in the nightcap due to injury.

Shippensburg got a pair of strong starting pitching performances from Mark Curtis (7.0 IP, 5 runs, 8 hits, 7 strikeouts, 1 walk) and Grant Hoover (6.0 IP, 2 runs, 9 hits, 8 strikeouts, 0 walks).

Ship first baseman Jake Kennedy extended his PSAC home run lead to 18 with one in both games. He was 3-for-7 with three walks, seven RBI and three runs in the doubleheader.

ESU freshman OF Carson Freeman had a two-run triple in the sixth inning of the opener, but Ship had already opened a 10-2 lead.

Allen had three of ESU's 10 hits and all three RBI in the second game, hitting an RBI single in the third to get it to 4-1 before Ship extended its lead on a Kennedy three-run homer in the sixth. Allen hit a two-run homer in the bottom of the eighth to set the final margin.

Steele was 2-for-3 with a double and scored two runs in the nightcap.

Senior right-hander Tyler Eckman improve to 6-0 in eight starts in the series opener after entering second in the PSAC in ERA (1.37). He held Ship to three runs in 5.0 innings of work and has a 1.76 ERA in 51.0 innings this spring.

Redshirt senior right-hander Ben Stine threw 6.0 innings of three-run ball in the nightcap Saturday to post his second win of the season.

ESU is scheduled for non-conference games at USciences on Monday at 3 p.m., and Chestnut Hill on Tuesday at 6 p.m.

The Warriors return to PSAC East action next weekend vs. Lock Haven, traveling Friday and hosting Saturday at 1 p.m. at Mitterling Field.


GAME NOTES

* PSAC players with 150 career strikeouts, 150 career hits
152 / 190 - Ian Allen (ESU), 2014-17 [active]
168 / 201 - Pat Kregeloh (Shippensburg), 2011-14
201 / 201 - Brian Ernst (ESU), 2010-13
278 / 175 - Mike McCardel (Kutztown), 2004-07
211 / 163 - Eric Clemmer (Kutztown), 1996-99
193 / 234 - Nate Thimons (Slippery Rock), 1996-99

* ESU players with 50 strikeouts, 50 hits in a season
51 / 53 - Ian Allen (2017) [active]
56 / 56 - Ian Allen (2015)
58 / 55 - Brian Ernst (2012)
63 / 54 - Tim Bishop (1984)

Allen - current ESU career ranks
t-9th - hits (190)
2nd - HR (18)
3rd - extra-base hits (65)
3rd - total bases (301)
1st - stolen bases (94) [7th in PSAC history]
4th - runs (151)
3rd - RBI (126)
2nd - walks (102)
3rd - times on base (310)
t-11th - strikeouts (152) [pitcher]
1st - strikeouts per 9 innings (10.9)
1st - strikeout-to-walk ratio (4.6)