KUTZTOWN – The East Stroudsburg University baseball team completed the season sweep of Kutztown on Saturday afternoon by defeating the Golden Bears by final scores of 2-0 and 8-3 in a PSAC East doubleheader at North Campus Field.
The Warriors improved to 29-13 on the season and 10-8 in the conference while the Golden Bears fell to 9-30 overall and 4-17 in the PSAC East.
In the opener, redshirt sophomore Brent Francisco (5-1) was nearly unhittable as the redshirt sophomore fired the first complete game shutout of his career, scattering only three hits while striking out seven. The Burlington Township, N.J. native lowered his ERA on the season to 3.09 and increased his punch out total to 87, which ranks first in the conference.
Redshirt senior Tim Haverstick provided the offense by driving in both runs for the Warriors while CJ Peechatka and Jack Rothenhausler each had a pair of hits.
In the series finale, Tom Reisinger (5-3) fired 5.0 scoreless innings, allowing five hits while striking out five. Justin Guidos was brilliant in relief, throwing 3.0 innings and retiring four Golden Bears on swings and misses.
Offensively, the Warriors were led by redshirt senior Anthony Torreullas, who finished 3-for-4 with his 19th career home run, three RBI and two runs. Peechatka collected two more hits and pair of RBI while Brock Kauffman and Rothenhausler each drove in a run.
Notables
- Brainy Rojas scored the 150th run of his career in the finale to remain at fifth all-time in program history and is still second for stolen bases with 75
- Ben Piripavel extended his team-high on-base streak to 18 games after reaching three times
- Francisco notched the 155th strikeout of his career to move into a tie for 12th all-time in school history
- Torreullas' 19th career long ball moved him into a tie for third all-time in program history
- The Warriors failed to record a stolen bases which keeps their season total at 112, ranking second in the PSAC and sixth in all of NCAA Division II
- Until the ninth inning of game two, ESU pitching limited Kutztown to zero runs and 11 hits across 15 innings
- Head Coach John Kochmansky continues to move towards his 400th of his career win after collecting No. 397 & 398 today
How it Happened – Game One
With two outs in the top of the second inning, the Warriors jumped out in front 2-0 as a ball hit by Haverstick resulted in a Kutztown error to plate a pair. Peechatka led off the frame with a single and Torreullas followed with a walk before the runners advanced into scoring position on a wild pitch.
How it Happened – Game Two
After a scoreless first four innings, the Warriors exploded for six runs, using four hits and a Kutztown error to take a 6-0 advantage. With the bases loaded, Kauffman got the scoring started on a sacrifice fly and Peechatka followed with a bases clearing double down the left field line to make the score 3-0.
Torreullas would then single to center field and after a throwing error by the Golden Bears, Peechatka was able to advance home. Rothenhausler produced the third straight hit for ESU to plate Torreullas and ultimately came around to score ESU's sixth run after a pair of wild pitches.
Following a one-out single from Peechatka in the top of the seventh inning, Torreullas stretched ESU's lead to 8-0 as he sent a blast over the left field fence.
In their final at-bats, the Golden Bears scored three runs on three hits to make the final score 8-3 in favor of ESU.
Up Next
The Warriors head to Albany, N.Y. on Wednesday for a makeup game with Saint Rose at 2 p.m. from the Plumeri Sports Complex.
