STROUDSBURG – Highlighted by redshirt senior Brock Kauffman setting the program doubles record, the East Stroudsburg University baseball team took the season series from Mansfield as the Warriors defeated the Mounties, 8-1, on Saturday at Creekview Park.
After tying Chriss Knott's (2011-14) record of 46 doubles eight games ago on March 10, Kauffman captured the program record in the top of the 8th inning as he laced a ball on one hop to the left field fence.
The Warriors improve to 21-6 overall and 4-2 in the conference while the Mounties dropped to 9-12 on the season and 3-6 in the PSAC.
ESU leaned on the right-handed arms of Brent Francisco and Mike Yates as the duo limited Mansfield to just one run on four hits. Francisco (3-1) was dealing as he fired 7.0 innings, which included retiring 10 straight to go along with seven strikeouts. Over the final two innings, Yates punched out a pair and limited any Mounties' scoring threat.
Offensively, the Warriors were held to just three runs on eight hits through the first seven innings before tacking on five runs in their final two at-bats to put the game out of reach.
Ben Piripavel went 3-for-4 on the afternoon with three runs scored, an RBI, a walk and three stolen bases. Kauffman finished the day 2-for-5 with a run and two RBI while Anthony Torreullas also drove in a pair.
Also collecting RBI for the Warriors was CJ Peechatka, Jack Rothenhausler and Tommy Dunleavy.
Notables
- With two more RBI today, Kauffman raised his career total to 141 which is six shy of setting the school record initially held by Knott with 146
- Rojas remains at 105 career walks which is four away of breaking the program record set by Ian Allen (109) from 2014-17. Rojas also remained ranked eighth all-time in career runs with 136.
- ESU finished 5-for-6 on stolen base attempts to bring their season total to 71 which ranks 9th in all of NCAA DII
How it Happened
With two outs in the top of the first inning, Torreullas delivered a single up that middle that scored Piripavel to give the Warriors a 1-0 lead. Piripavel worked a walk before moving into scoring position after a stolen base.
Mansfield tied the game at 1-1 in the bottom of the second inning as the Mounties took advantage of a leadoff double from Assaf Lowengart, who came around to score on a single from Ben Osborne.
ESU regained the lead in the top of the third as the Warriors took advantage of back-to-back singles from Rojas and Piripavel to make the score 2-1. After a double steal put both runners in scoring position, Torreullas produced his second RBI of the afternoon.
With two outs in the top of the fifth, Peechatka added to the Warriors advantage as he smashed a double to left field to score Piripavel for ESU's third run. Piripavel singled up the middle and recorded his third stolen base of the game to set up the scoring opportunity.
The Warriors added three runs on three hits in the top of the eighth inning to extend their lead to 6-1. Kauffman got the scoring started on his record-setting double that plated Peechatka, before ultimately coming around to score on a triple from Rothenhausler. Dunleavy followed with a sacrifice fly to center field for ESU's sixth run.
In their final at-bats, the Warriors used two hits to take on a pair of runs to make the score 8-1. Piripavel doubled home Jeremy Piatkiewicz, who led of the inning with a walk before eventually crossing home plate on a base hit from Kauffman.
Up Next
As the calendar flips to April, the Warriors travel to Millersville on the 1st for a single nine-inning game against the Marauders at 2 p.m. from Cooper Park.
