STROUDSBURG – Senior Carson Freeman hit his second grand slam for the East Stroudsburg University baseball team in as many seasons as the Warriors scored nine runs in the fourth inning to defeat Saint Rose 11-1 in game one of a doubleheader on Sunday at Creekview Park.
 
ESU (8-1) continued its string of effective pitching performances to open the 2020 season as senior Cam Voss, graduate student Brett Lubreski, and sophomore JP Nolan combined to allow one run off two hits while notching 14 strikeouts.
 
Freeman finished 2-for-4 at the plate with a double and a pair of runs scored to go along with his grand slam and four runs batted in. Junior Brock Kauffman added a pair of RBIs in the contest for the Warriors, while junior Tommy Dunleavy homered in his third straight game for ESU. Nine different Warrior hitters recorded at least one hit in the game.
 
The Golden Knights would have few answers against Voss, who fanned eight of the first nine batters that he faced in the contest. He would sit down the Golden Knights in order in each of the second and third innings. Voss allowed just three base runners through five innings of work as all three reached via walks.
 
Kauffman would give the Warriors a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning with a single that allowed junior Brainy Rojas and Freeman to score. The score would hold until ESU came to bat in the bottom of the fourth inning.
 
Dunleavy increased the Warriors' lead to 3-0 with his third home run of the season to lead off the frame. Following a pair of walks and a single from senior Joey Paolini, senior CJ Lopez extended ESU's advantage to 4-0 after working a walk with the bases loaded.
 
The lead stretched to 5-0 after another walk with the bases loaded before Freeman sent the first pitch of his at-bat over the fence in left field to make it 9-0. Sophomore Logan Stirr also added a run-scoring double in the inning for the Warriors to make it 10-0.
 
Saint Rose tallied its lone run of the contest in the top of the sixth inning against Lubreski. The Golden Knights loaded the bases following a walk and back-to-back singles before a hit-by-pitch forced in a run. Lubreski would escape any further damage in the frame with an inning-ending 6-4-3 double play. Nolan tallied three strikeouts in the top of the seventh inning and worked around a two-out walk to preserve the 11-1 victory for ESU.
 
Voss improved to 2-0 on the season and finished with 11 strikeouts for the Warriors. He increased his total strikeouts on the season to 27, while the Warrior pitching staff has tallied 119 strikeouts.