SHIPPENSBURG – Following nearly an hour lightning delay in the top of the ninth, redshirt senior Brainy Rojas lifted the 12th ranked East Stroudsburg University baseball team to a series victory over Shippensburg as the Warriors won the finale 4-2 on Saturday at Fairchild Field. The Raiders took the seven-inning opener 5-2.

With the split, the Warriors move to 19-5 overall and 2-1 in conference play while the Raiders go to 7-17 on the season and 2-4 in the PSAC.

Prior to the delay, the Warriors had runners on first and second after working a pair of walk. With Rojas due up next, the redshirt senior delivered a piece of clutch hitting with a single to center field that scored Jeremy Piatkiewicz and Tommy Dunleavy.

Scott Shamany closed the door in the ninth with his fourth save of the season and starter Brent Francisco earned the no decision after pitching 6.0 innings, allowing two runs on eight hits while striking out six. Mike Yates threw a clean 2.0 innings over the seventh and eighth.

In the opener, ESU was leading 2-0 but the Raiders scored five runs across the fourth and fifth innings to earn the come from behind victory. The Warriors were limited to just two runs on three hits from Anthony Torreullas, Tommy Dunleavy and Piatkiewicz.

Tommy Reisinger (3-1) was handed his first loss of the season after going 4.1 innings in which he allowed four runs on five hits to go along with five punch outs.

Notables

- Brock Kauffman is closing in on a pair of school records as he sits tied for the top spot in doubles at 46 with Chriss Knott (2011-14). The Blue Ball, Pa. native is still at 139 career RBI which is only seven away from tying the school record of 146 also held by Knott.

- Rojas is up to 105 career walks which is four away of breaking the program record set by Ian Allen (109) from 2014-17. Rojas also moved up to eighth all-time in career runs with 135.

- ESU went 4-for-4 on stolen bases to bring their season total to 66 which ranks sixth in all of NCAA DII

How it Happened – Game One

ESU jumped out to a 1-0 lead in their first at-bats as Rojas came around to score after getting hit by the second pitch of the game. Rojas stole second, advanced to third on a fly ball and ultimately got ESU on the board following a wild pitch.

In the top of the second, Dunleavy got into scoring position after a double down the left field line, before moving up 90 feet on a passed ball. With two outs, Piatkiewicz delivered a single to center field that plated Dunleavy, which stretched the Warriors' advantage to 2-0.

The Raiders tied the game at 2-2 in the bottom of the fourth as back-to-back singles to lead off the inning produced a pair of runs. With runners on second and third, Andrew Chronister produced an RBI ground and Ben Werkheiser followed with a two-out single to center field to even the score.

With the bases loaded and two outs in the bottom of the fifth inning, Shippensburg grabbed their first lead of the day as Justin Darden worked a seven-pitch walk to make the score 3-2. The Raiders would extend their edged to 5-2 on the very next batter as Chronister plated a pair on a single.

How it Happened – Game Two

Despite not recording hit in the top of the third inning, the Warriors were able to manufacture a run to take a 1-0 lead. With two outs and runners at the corners, Cooper Gehring took off for second and after an error by the Shippensburg shortstop, Rojas was able to race home to get ESU in the board.

The Warriors extended their lead in the top of the fifth inning with one run on three hits to make the score 2-0. Dunleavy led off with a double to right field, and Gehring followed with a single to put runners on the corners. After a wild pitch allowed Dunleavy to score the Warriors loaded the bases with one out but were unable to extend their advantage grounding into a double play.  

Shippensburg answered with three runs and two hits to even the game at 2-2 in the home half of the inning. The Raiders started off with a single and a double before a JuJu Cason two-base hit through the left side tied it up.

In the top of the ninth, the Warriors worked a pair of walks before the game was delayed because of lightning. After the stoppage, Rojas delivered the game-winning hit on a single to center field that scored Piatkiewicz and Dunleavy which put ESU ahead 4-2.

Up Next

The Warriors are back on the road next Friday with a trip to Mansfield for a single game against the Mounties at 2 p.m. from Joseph Shaute Field.