EAST STROUDBSURG – The East Stroudsburg University baseball team was named the NCAA Division II statistical champion for earned run average (ERA) for the 2023 season, announced on Wednesday.
Over 402.1 innings, the Warriors pitched to a 3.24 ERA and were one of just nine program with an ERA under 4.00, along with Southern New Hampshire (3.37), Angelo State (3.41), Seton Hill (3.54), Millersville (3.55), West Florida (3.58), Tampa (3.61), Albany State (3.72) and Lenoir-Rhyne (3.82).
Along with leading the nation in ERA, ESU ranked third in stolen bases per game (3.68), fourth in fielding percentage (0.979) and stolen bases (184), 10th in WHIP (1.32), 12th in strikeout-to-walk ratio (2.56), 13th in hits allowed per nine innings (8.23), 14th in shutouts (6), 16th in winning percentage (0.720), 17th in double plays per game (0.84) and 20th in sacrifice flies (34).
Getting off to their best 30-game start, the Warriors finished 36-14 overall, advancing to the NCAA Tournament for the sixth time overall and in back-to-back seasons for the first time in program history.
This is the first team NCAA Statistical Champion award for ESU since the 2020 shortened season when the Warriors recorded the top marks for hits allowed per nine innings (4.27) and strikeouts per nine innings (13.6).
The talented Warriors' pitching staff was anchored by graduate student Chase Nowak as well as juniors Tom Reisinger, Brent Francisco and Nick McAuliffe. Nowak was tabbed the PSAC East and NCBWA Atlantic Region Pitcher of the Year after posting an 8-4 record and career-best 2.26 ERA over a team-high 79.2 innings. He left his mark in the record book as Nowak set the program records for wins (27), strikeouts (302), innings pitched (267.1) and games started (52) while ranking third all-time in ERA (3.20), fourth in batting average against (.228), fourth in hits/9 innings (7.7) and sixth in strikeout-to-walk ratio (2.6).
Reisinger, who was selected in the 10th round (pick 286) of the 2023 Major League Baseball Draft by the Oakland Athletics back on July 10, garnered All-PSAC East (1st Team), ABCA/Rawlings (1st Team), NCBWA (2nd Team) and D2CCA (2nd Team) All-Atlantic Region honors. He notched a 6-2 record, 2.64 ERA and a team-high 97 strikeouts in 71.2 innings pitched. A former All-PSAC East First selection, Francisco went 8-4 with a 3.33 ERA and 58 strikeouts across 73.0 innings.
McAuliffe was ESU's top option out of the bullpen, making 22 appearances on his way to earning All-PSAC East First Team honors as a relief pitcher. McAuliffe finished with a 5-2 record, 2.51 ERA and 68 strikeouts across 57.1 innings pitched.
ESU, under 16th-year head coach John Kochmanksy, has ranked in the top-10 in DII for ERA in the last two seasons.
