SLIPPERY ROCK –The East Stroudsburg University baseball team avoided elimination for the second straight day at the PSAC Tournament by grinding out a 5-0 victory against Mercyhurst on Friday at Jack Critchfield Park.
With the victory, the Warriors advance to the PSC Championship game to the first time since 2015 where they will face Millersville at noon.
After falling to Mercyhurst on Thursday, the Warriors (37-16) responded by blanking the Lakers and limiting them to just five hits. ESU must defeat the Marauders in tomorrow's opener to avoid elimination and force a deciding game at approximately 4 p.m.
The Warriors jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first before stretching their advantage to 2-0 in the 4th. ESU put the came out of reach in their final at-bats, plating three runs on four hits to make the final score 5-0.
With ESU forced to use a number of pitchers in their previous three game, the Warriors utilized five different arms to shutout the Lakers. Mike Yates pitched the first 4.1 innings, allowing four hits while striking out three. Connor Takacs (0.2), Justin Guidos (1.0), Nate Fiala (1.2) and Tommy Dunleavy (1.1) combined to throw the final 4.2 innings, limiting Mercyhurst to one hit. Fiala was credited with his third win of the season.
Redshirt senior Brainy Rojas provided the offense, going 3-for-5 out of the leadoff spot with a double while also scoring a run. PSAC East Freshman of the Year Jack Rothenhausler was 2-for-4 with a double and two RBI while Anthony Torreullas went 1-for-3 with an RBI and two runs. Also driving in runs for the Warriors was Brock Kauffman (1-for-4, one run) and CJ Peechatka.
Notables
- Peechatka pushed his team-high on-base streak to 25 games after getting hit by a pitch
- Rojas scored the 156th run of his career to remain at fourth all-time in program history and still ranks second for stolen bases with 77
- Kauffman notched his 217th career hit to remain at second all-time in school history and is eight from breaking the school record of 224, set by Jacob DeBoer (2004-07)
- ESU stole one base on the afternoon to push their season total at 132, which ranks second in the PSAC and sixth in all of NCAA Division II
- The Warriors improve to 17-17 all-time in the PSAC Tournament and 4-7 against the Lakers, earning their win against Mercyhurst since 2015
How it Happened
ESU wasted no time taking the lead as the Warriors used a lead off single from Rojas to make the score 1-0 in the bottom of the first. Rojas ultimately advanced to third in the inning before racing home on a sacrifice fly to right field from Peechatka.
The Warriors took advantage of a Mercyhurst error in the bottom of the fourth inning to extend their advantage to 2-0. With two outs and the bases loaded, Torreullas came around to score on a Piatkiewicz groundball that looked to end the ESU threat before the throw sailed wide.
ESU tacked on three insurance runs, using four hits to stretch their lead to 5-0. Torreullas got the scoing started with an RBI to bring home Kauffman. Rothenhaulser followed with a two-run single down the right field line to bring home a pair.
Up Next
The Warriors a wait the loser of Mercyhurst and Millersville tomorrow at 3 p.m. in another game at Jack Critchfield Park.
