EAST STROUDSBURG, Pa. – The East Stroudsburg University baseball team continued PSAC East play on Saturday with another twin bill against Shippensburg, this time at Creekview Park. The Warriors defeated the Raiders 8-1 in game one but fell 1-0 in the second game of the double header to earn a split.

The Warriors captured the season series against the Raiders 3-1 and moved to 4-3 overall and 3-1 in conference play. Shippensburg picked up their first win of the season to improve to 1-4 overall and 1-3 in PSAC play.

ESU received strong pitching performances in both games as Brent Francisco, Mike Yates and Tom Reisinger combined for 13 strikeouts in the game one victory. Despite being handed the loss in game two, redshirt senior Connor Johnson fired 5.0 innings, allowed just one run on three hits and recorded eight strikeouts. Redshirt senior CJ Gonzales came on to pitch a scoreless final two innings, recording one strikeout.

The Warriors offense was held in check for most of the afternoon as they combined to score eight runs on six hits across both games.

Game 1 Recap
Francisco, Yates and Reisigner combined for 13 strikeouts and the Warriors' offense scored eight runs on just four hits to earn the 8-1 victory in game one of the doubleheader at Creekview Park.

Redshirt freshman Tim Haverstick paced the ESU offense with two hits as he went 2-for-3 with a walk, one RBI and two runs scored.

Shippensburg jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the top of the first on an RBI single from Ben Werkheiser. Francisco retired the first batter he faced, but let the next three batters reach base, before striking out the next two Raiders' hitters to limit the damage to just one run.

The Warriors took a 3-1 lead in the bottom of the second inning as they plated three runs on just one hit. Anthony Torreullas led off the frame getting hit by a pitch, an error from the Shippensburg shortstop allowed Tommy Dunleavy to reach and Logan Stirr worked a walk to load the bases. Joey Paolini grounded into a fielder's choice to drive in Torreullas and Haverstick delivered a single up the middle to plate Dunleavy which gave ESU the 2-1 lead. Jeremy Piatkiewicz pushed across the third run of the inning on a high chopper down the third baseline that allowed Paolini to race home.

ESU extended their advantage in the bottom of the fourth to 5-1 after scoring a pair of runs. Haverstick and Piatkiewicz each singled before Rojas drew a walk to load the bases. After Freeman popped out to the shortstop for the second out, Brock Kauffman worked a five pitch walk to score Haverstick, making the game 4-1. Torreullas figured the make the last out of the inning on ground ball to the third baseman but a throwing error allowed Piatkiewicz to extend the Warriors' lead to 5-1.

The Warriors added three more insurance runs the very next inning on only one hit to make the score 8-1. Stirr, Haverstick and Piatkiewicz each opened the frame with a walk before Rojas was hit by a pitch to drive in the first run of the inning. After a pitching change, Freeman singled up the middle to drive home a pair and give the Warriors a seven run lead.

The Raiders advanced runners to second in each of the next two innings but were stifled by the Warriors pitching staff.

Shippensburg starter Sophy Miller was handed the loss after surrendering eight runs, four of them earned, on three hits, while also issuing eight walks over 4.1 innings.

Game 2 Recap
Johnson struck out eight batters and allowed just three hits over 5.0 innings of work but the Raiders' lone run in the fourth inning proved to be costly as Shippensburg defeated ESU 1-0 in game two of the doubleheader. Gabe Stotler twirled a complete game shutout for the Raiders, holding the Warriors offense to just two hits while also punching out five.

Kauffman singled in the first inning and the only Warriors' hit the rest of the game came from redshirt freshman Ben Piripavel in the fifth inning.

Johnson was making quick work of the Raiders hitter through the first three innings, striking out six of the 10 batters he faced. In the fourth, Shippensburg worked a leadoff walk from Lake Lloyd, and he was able to advance to third on a single from Chase Zurawski in the very next at-bat. Justin Darden skied the very next pitch to deep right field for a sacrifice fly that allowed Lloyd to race home for the lone run of the game.

ESU's only real scoring opportunity came in the fifth inning with two outs when a fly ball from Haverstick was dropped in right field. Piripavel was running on contact and making his way down the third baseline to tie the game but instead of throwing home, Jafari Williams threw to second base cut off Haverstick and get the third out of the inning.

Up Next

The Warriors travel to Felician on Tuesday for a single nine-inning game against the Golden Falcons. First pitch is scheduled for 2 p.m. at the Lyndhurst Recreation Complex.