EAST STROUDSBURG – Behind dominate pitching and tremendous defense, the East Stroudsburg University baseball team finished off the three-game sweep of ninth-ranked Southern New Hampshire by blanking the Penmen, 3-0, on Monday at Creekview Park.
The red-hot Warriors (12-2) swept their third straight series and collected their 10th consecutive victory headed into PSAC East play on Friday, while the Penmen drop to 7-3 as they continue their non-conference schedule.
Brent Francisco was brilliant once again as the redshirt junior fired 6.0 innings, allowing five hits while striking out a trio of Penmen to improve his record to 4-0 in four starts. Redshirt senior
Mike Yates was lockdown in relief, pitching the final three innings and punching out a pair to record his first save of the season.
Notables
- Offensively the Warriors were paced by a pair of high school teammates as Liberty products, Jack Rothenhausler and Parker Frey each went 1-for-2 with a RBI while combining for three walks
- Also collecting hits for ESU were Matt Ervolina (two stolen bases, one run, one walk), Mike Kelly (two steals), Victor Cruz and Tim Haverstick
- Junior Jeremy Piatkiewicz record a RBI on a bases loaded walk in the bottom of the seventh inning
- Redshirt junior Ben Piripavel drew a pair of walks and swiped the 67th base of his career to slide up to third all-time in the record books
- Francisco lowered his ERA to 1.17 in 23.0 innings of work and increased his career strikeout total to 200 which ranks tied for sixth all-time in program history
- In three appearances out of the bullpen, Yates holds a 0.00 ERA and 0.43 WHIP across 7.0 innings of work
- With six more stolen bases today, the Warriors finished the three-game set a perfect 21-for-21, pushing their season total to 65 which leads the PSAC and ranks top-5 in NCAA Division II
- ESU's pitching staff has dominated opposing lineups through the first 14 games as 14 different Warriors have combined for a 2.39 ERA and 111 strikeouts over 109.0 innings
- In today's NCBWA Atlantic Region Poll, the Warriors jumped to No. 2 and received a pair of first-place votes. The weekly NCBWA Top 25 will be released on Wednesday.
How it Happened – ESU 3, Southern New Hampshire 0
The Warriors grabbed a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning as Hubbard worked a two-out walk before stealing second, which set up Rothenhausler for an RBI single for the game's first run.
After ESU loaded the bases on walks from Piripavel, Ervolina and Rothenhausler, the Warriors extended their advantage to 2-0 in the bottom of the third inning over the Penmen on a sacrifice fly to right field from Fry.
Following a leadoff single from Ervolina to begin the home half of the seventh, Rothenhausler and Frey each worked five-pitch walks to set the table for Piatkiewicz, who drew the third straight free pass to extend the Warriors lead to 3-0.
Up Next
ESU opens PSAC East play on Friday as the Warriors travel to West Virginia for a single nine-inning game against Shepherd at 2 p.m.
