ESU Baseball Postseason Honors (PDF)

EAST STROUDSBURG - Senior left-handed pitcher/outfielder Ian Allen was named to the first team at the utility position, and senior right-handed pitcher Tyler Eckman was named to the second team, giving East Stroudsburg University two selections on the NCBWA Division II All-Atlantic Region baseball team, released Wednesday.

Allen gained a spot on the All-Region team for the second straight year, previously earning second team honors last spring.

Eckman earns his first All-Region spot. He is the sixth ESU pitcher named All-Region since 2009, along with Jeremy Gigliotti (2009, 2011), Christian Saveri (2010), Ryan Lubreski (2013), Brandon Holup (2014) and Matt Festa (2016). He is the eighth recent pitcher when including utility selections Allen (2016-17) and Brian Ernst (2013).

Allen and Eckman helped lead ESU to its third straight PSAC Tournament appearance for the first time in program history. The Warriors have advanced to the conference postseason six times in the last eight years. Both were standouts on last year's NCAA Division II Tournament team that set a school record with 38 wins.

Allen (East Aurora, N.Y./East Aurora) completed a four-year career as one of the top players in program history. As a utility player, he is the sixth player in PSAC history and second in ESU history with 150 career hits (197) at the plate and 150 strikeouts (167) on the mound. He is also the third PSAC player with 100 career stolen bases (101).

As a senior, Allen hit .368 with a .472 on-base percentage and .638 slugging percentage, posting 60 hits, 18 doubles, one triple, eight home runs, 45 RBI, 46 runs, 23 walks, 10 HBP and a 34-for-39 mark on stolen bases.

He entered the PSAC Tournament ranked in the conference's top 10 in seven categories - second in stolen bases, fifth in total bases, tied for sixth in runs, tied for seventh in home runs, tied for ninth in hits and RBI and 10th in slugging percentage.

On the mound, he was 4-4 with a 5.55 ERA, 66 strikeouts and 14 walks in 48.2 innings across 10 starts. He threw two complete games, in wins vs. Kutztown (10-2 - 0 earned runs) and at Mansfield (8-2), and also had a PSAC East win against Lock Haven (7-5). He struck out at least nine batters in four of his 10 starts, and had 11 strikeouts against Philadelphia U and Kutztown.

The fourth three-time All-PSAC East selection in program history, Allen had a career offensive line of .326/.440/.515 in 189 games and ranks in ESU's top two in eight offensive categories. He holds school records for stolen bases (101), walks (109) and times reached base (327), and is second in home runs (18), extra-base hits (68), total bases (311), runs (162) and RBI (131).

He finished tied for eighth in career hits (197) with teammate Jay Young, the first team All-Region second baseman last spring.

He hit .357/.458/.599 with 19 extra-base hits, including eight home runs, 47 RBI, 50 runs and 23 stolen bases as a sophomore on ESU's 2015 PSAC runner-up team. He hit .308/.436/.449 with 18 extra-base hits, 32 RBI, 53 runs and a school-record 36 stolen bases on the 2016 NCAA Tournament team.

He also holds pitching records for strikeouts per nine innings (10.8) and strikeout-to-walk ratio (4.5) and is eighth in strikeouts (167) in 138.2 innings. He had a career record of 13-6 in 28 starts with six complete games and one shutout, a no-hitter at Virginia State as a sophomore.

Allen has two of the four seasons in school history with at least 50 hits and 50 strikeouts - 56 hits and 56 strikeouts in 2015, and 60 hits and 66 strikeouts in 2017.

Eckman (Royersford, Pa./Spring-Ford) had a 7-0 record with a 2.70 ERA in 11 starts as a senior, posting the most wins without a loss on the mound in program history. ESU was 9-2 in those 11 starts, including 6-1 in PSAC East games with six straight wins following a 4-3 (9 inn.) loss at divisional champ West Chester in the conference opener. Five of his seven divisional starts were on the road.

He struck out 46, walked 15 and allowed 69 hits. Ten of his 20 earned runs were in two starts - an 8-5 win in the opening game of a 3-1 series against Lock Haven, and a 9-6 loss to Slippery Rock in the PSAC Tournament.

He didn't allow an earned run in his first three starts, throwing 6.0 innings in wins against Post (16-7), at Chowan (6-2) and vs. Pitt-Johnstown (7-3). Following the loss at West Chester (7.0 IP, 2 runs), he was 4-0 in his next six starts to pitch ESU into the PSAC Tournament - 6.0 innings (3 runs) in a 5-3 win vs. Bloomsburg, 8.0 innings (1 run) in a 3-1 (9 inn.) win at Kutztown, 7.0 innings in a 2-1 complete game win at Millersville, 5.0 innings (3 runs) in a 4-3 win at Shippensburg, 5.1 innings (5 runs) in an 8-5 win at Lock Haven, and 7.0 innings in a 4-0 win vs. Mansfield for his first career shutout on the final weekend of the regular season.

Eckman was third in the PSAC in ERA (2.13) entering the PSAC Tournament.

He earned his second career first team All-PSAC East selection, previously earning recognition as a relief pitcher as a sophomore when he set ESU's single-season record with nine saves.

He had a 3.29 career ERA, ESU's third-lowest since 1985. He posted a 14-8 record with nine saves in 50 appearances, including 26 starts, with 139 strikeouts and 49 walks in 180.1 innings.

Eckman was ESU's No. 2 starter, behind PSAC East Pitcher of the Year Matt Festa, on the 2016 NCAA Tournament team. He was 5-5 with a 3.24 ERA in 12 starts.


ESU NCBWA All-Region 1st team (since 2005)
2011 - SP Jeremy Gigliotti
2014 - OF Chris Knott
2014 - DH Nico Delerme
2016 - SP Matt Festa
2016 - 2B Jay Young
2016 - OF Robert Bennie
2017 - UTIL Ian Allen


NCBWA Division II Atlantic Region

Player of the Year - Chis Gonzalez, Mercyhurst
Pitcher of the Year - Russell Lamovec, Mercyhurst
Coach of the Year - Joe Spano, Mercyhurst

1st team
SP - Russell Lamovec, Mercyhust
SP - Ryan Pansch, Shepherd
SP - Seth Reeves, Winston-Salem State
RP - Josh McClain, West Chester

C - Tyler Walters, Slippery Rock
1B - Jake Kennedy, Shippensburg
2B - Chris Gonzalez, Mercyhurst
3B - Levi Krause, California (Pa.)
SS - Cameron Balego, Mercyhurst
OF - Jimmy Latona, Mercyhurst
OF - Chas McCormick, Millersville
OF - J.J. Sarty, Shepherd
DH - Shane Dressler, West Chester
UTIL - Ian Allen, East Stroudsburg


2nd team
SP - Mike Cipolla, West Chester
SP - Tyler Eckman, East Stroudsburg
SP - Eli Nabholz, Millersville
SP - Chris Vallimont, Mercyhurst
RP - Chris Metrick, WV Wesleyan

C - David Markins, Virginia State
1B - David Marcus, California (Pa.)
2B (tie) - Ivan Acuna, Winston-Salem State
2B (tie) - Tyler Benson, Bloomsburg
3B - Tom McCarthy, Seton Hill
SS - Chad Frazier, Concord
OF - Austin Norman, Fairmont State
OF - Randy Norris, Winston-Salem State
OF - Jahleel Sewer, Virginia State
DH - Johnny Kesling, Fairmont State
UTIL - Drew Delsignore, Mercyhurst

* 4 2nd-team selections at SP due to tie