STROUDSBURG – The East Stroudsburg University baseball team pushed its winning streak to eight games after outscoring Bloomfield 20-2 in pair of seven-inning games on a brisk Sunday afternoon at Creekview Park. The Warriors scored 10 runs in each game to defeat the Bears, 10-0 and 10-2.
ESU improves to 9-2 overall and are having their best start to a season since 2020 when they were 10-1 through their first 11 games. Bloomfield falls to 0-2 following their 2022 season-opener.
Across 14 innings of work this afternoon, the Warriors pitching staffed combined to allow two runs on 10 hits while striking out 18 Bears.
Chase Nowak (2-0) picked up his second straight win after firing 5.0 scoreless innings in which he allowed six hits while striking out five.
Brent Francisco (2-1) made quick work of Bloomfield to earn the victory in game two as he punched out seven and yielded just two hits across 4.0 innings of work.
Offensively, nine different Warriors recorded at least one RBI in the opener and ESU took advantage of 11 walks and four errors by Bloomfield in game two to score double-digit runs for the fourth consecutive game.
Brainy Rojas continued to heat up as he finished the day 3-for-5 with three RBI, four runs scored and four walks.
Drew Hefner was patient at the plate all afternoon going 1-for-2 with two RBI and three runs while also drawing four walks.
In game one, Tim Haverstick and Jeremy Piatkiewicz combined to go 4-of-7 with the two RBI and two runs a piece while Tommy Dunleavy was 2-for-2 with a run, RBI and walk in the finale.
Notables
- During the win streak, the Warriors have outscored their opponents 77-12
- ESU went 6-for-8 on stolen bases to move their season total up to 35-of-39, which leads the PSAC
- With a base knock in each game, Rojas extended his hitting streak to eight games
- Kauffman has now reached base safely in nine consecutive games
How it Happened – Game One
ESU took advantage of a leadoff walk from Rojas to begin the bottom of the first inning as he ultimately came around to score to put the Warriors ahead 1-0. On a play in which ESU struck out, Rojas stole second and advanced to third on an error by the Bears' catcher. With two outs, Anthony Torreullas delivered a double into the gap to bring home Rojas.
The Warriors kept it rolling in the home half of the second inning, scoring three runs all with two outs to extend their advantage to 4-0. A led off single from Haverstick was followed by a Hefner walk before Victor Cruz dropped down a sacrifice bunt to advance the runners. Piatkiewicz produced an RBI grounded out to score Haverstick and Rojas singled in Hefner to make the score 3-0. With runners on first and second still, Brock Kauffman brought in Rojas on a base knock.
In their final at-bats, the Warriors recorded six runs on five hits, all of which were singles, to put the game out of reach at 10-0. Picking up RBIs in the bottom of the sixth inning were Cruz, Ben Piripavel, Torreullas, Haverstick and Jack Gensemer.
How it Happened – Game Two
ESU picked up right where they left off, plating four runs on four hits in the bottom of the first inning to take a 4-0 lead. Rojas singled but Piripavel would ultimately come around to score on a wild pitch to make the game 1-0. With runners on the corners, Dunleavy singled home Torreullas and Hefner followed by deep sacrifice fly to center field to put ESU ahead 3-0. With two outs, a ball four pitch to Jack Rothenhausler got away to bring home Haverstick.
In the bottom of the second, the Warriors added to advantage with a run on a sacrifice fly from Dunleavy to make the score 4-0. Rojas got into scoring position following a walk, an error by Bloomfield and a wild pitch.
Similar to the previous inning, ESU scratched across one run while using only one hit to grab a 6-0 advantage. With two outs, Rojas punched a single to left field that allowed Hefner to race home from second after he led off the third with a free pass.
The Warriors took advantage of Bloomfield dropping the third out in foul territory during the bottom of the fifth inning to push the edge to 7-0. Rojas walked after the Bears' mistake and with runners on the corner, the ball trickled to the backstop which allowed pinch runner Ricky Bromirski to come across home plate.
Bloomfield got on the board in the top of sixth when Javell Barnes stole third and was able to advance home after the ball went down the left field line on an error by ESU. The Warriors answered in the home half of the inning with a running scoring single from Hefner, an RBI double from Rothenhausler and a bases loaded walk from Rojas to regain a 10-1 lead.
Despite just one hit in the top of the ninth inning, the Bears manufactured a run to make the final score 10-2.
Up Next
ESU returns to Creekview Park on Tuesday for a midweek doubleheader against USciences beginning at noon.
