SLIPPERY ROCK –The East Stroudsburg University baseball team staved off elimination in the 2022 PSAC Tournament by knocking off the host Slippery Rock, 4-2, in an elimination game on Thursday at Jack Critchfield Park.
The Warriors (36-16) bounced back from their loss earlier in the day by using timely hitting and pitching to advance past The Rock (33-16), playing the loser of Mercyhurst and Millersville tomorrow at 3 p.m.
With ESU leading by two head into the bottom of the eighth inning, Slippery Rock put runners on second and third with no outs before Tommy Dunleavy got the Warriors out of the jam with three strikeouts. The redshirt senior proceeded to punch out in the side in the bottom of the ninth to earn his first save of the season.
Pitching on three-days rest, graduate student Chase Nowak moved to 8-0 after firing 5.0 innings, allowing two runs on four hits while striking out five. Redshirt junior Justin Guidos threw 2.0 innings of relief, scattering five hits to with a pair of strikeouts.
Offensively, freshman Jack Rothenhausler went 2-for-4 with a double, a RBI and a run while Jeremy Piatkiewicz had two hits and a run. Brock Kauffman recorded his fifth home run of the season while Ben Piripavel and Tim Haverstick each added a base knock and a RBI. CJ Peechatka finished 1-for-2 with a walk and a run scored.
Notables
- Peechatka pushed his team-high on-base streak to 24 games after reaching with a base hit
- Rojas remained at 155 runs for his career to sit at fourth all-time in program history and still ranks second for stolen bases with 77
- Kauffman notched his 216th career hit to remain at second all-time in school history and is nine from breaking the school record of 224, held by Jacob DeBoer (2004-07)
- Nowak recorded the 212th strikeout of his career, which ranks him fourth all-time in program history
- ESU was held to zero stolen bases in their second game to keep their season total at 131, which ranks second in the PSAC and sixth in all of NCAA Division II
- The Warriors improve to 16-17 all-time in the PSAC Tournament and 9-9 against The Rock
How it Happened
Slippery Rock took the game's first lead in top of the second as Luke Trueman recorded an RBI-single to right field, which brought home Alex Robenolt to make the score 1-0.
The Warriors answered with two runs on three hits in the home half of the inning as Rothenhausler delivered a one-out double to plate Peechatka, who led off the frame with a single. Then with two outs, Haverstick produced a base hit to right field to put the Warriors ahead 2-1.
Kauffman helped to extend ESU's advantage to 3-1 in the bottom of the third as he opened the inning with a solo home run to left field.
ESU scored for the third consecutive inning in the home half of the fourth as with runners on first and second, Piripavel singled to left field to bring home Piatkiewicz which put the Warriors up 4-1.
The Rock got a run back in the top of the fifth inning, taking an advantage of an ESU error to cut their deficit in half at 4-2. After reaching on a one-out double and advancing to third on a wild pitch, Connor Hamilton scored following a fielding mistake by the Warriors.
Up Next
The Warriors await the loser of Mercyhurst and Millersville tomorrow at 3 p.m. in another elimination game at Jack Critchfield Park.
