STROUDSBURG – With its 16th straight victory, the 17th-ranked East Stroudsburg University baseball team set a program record for consecutive wins as the Warriors defeated St. Thomas Aquinas, 10-1, to rewrite the record books on Sunday afternoon at Creekview Park.
The consecutive wins began on February 18 when ESU thumped Chowan in the series finale, and with today's nine-run triumph, the Warriors broke the previous record set by the 2022 squad which went 15-straight before dropping a game.
The Warriors, who jumped on STAC (9-12) with six runs on five hits in the bottom of the first inning, completed their fourth straight series sweep to improve to 19-3 overall on the season.
Batting Notables
- Mike Kelly pushed his hit streak to a team-high nine games as the senior went 2-for-4 with two runs scored out of the leadoff spot
- Raising his batting average to .413 on the season, redshirt sophomore Parker Frey finished 3-for-4 with a triple and two runs
- Redshirt freshman Walker Zampella and junior Jack Rothenhausler (two runs) both collected three RBI, while sophomore Tanner Vicendese drove in a run following a pinch hit single
- Redshirt freshman Chaise Albus was 1-for-4 with a walk, two RBI and a run while sophomore Shanley Wall (1-for-4, walk) scored a run
- ESU continued its plate discipline as the Warriors manufactured eight walks which included three from sophomore Connor Reilly
- Freshman Jack Mathis recorded his first career collegiate hit before coming around to score, while fellow classmate Troy Davis and redshirt senior Tim Haverstick each collected an RBI off the bench
- ESU ran wild on the base paths as the Warriors went 9-for-11 on stolen base attempts as Kelly, Frey and Albus each swiped a pair of bags
Pitching Notables
- Gavin Sopko (2-0) was perfect in relief to earn the victory as the freshman fired 4.2 hitless innings to go along with a career-high six strikeouts
- Fellow classmate Peyton Brannock followed with three punchouts in the eighth inning and senior Jack Nielsen recorded a strikeout in STAC's final at-bats. Brannock continued his scoreless streak as the freshman has not allowed a run across 9.2 innings of work this season.
- Making his sixth start of the year, sophomore Ryan Dewees surrendered one run on three hits in 2.1 innings pitched before exiting the game
How it Happened – ESU 10, STAC 1
Sending 12 batters to the plate in the top of the first inning, ESU plated six runs on five hits to take a commanding 6-0 lead. Rothenhausler delivered a two-run single with the bases loaded and on his successful steal of second base, Hubbard scampered home. With runners on second and third, Albus cleared the bases with a single before stealing second and coming around to score on an RBI base hit from Zampella.
Following a one-out triple from Frey in the bottom of the second inning, the sophomore scored on an RBI groundout by Zampella to push ESU's edge to 7-0.
The Spartans got on the scoreboard in the top of the third inning with one run on two hits to cut the deficit to 7-1. David Potenza led off with a base hit and Jospeh Scamardella worked a one-out walk to set up Gegory DiGaro with an RBI single through the left side.
ESU got the run back in the bottom of the fourth inning to regain a seven-run lead at 8-1 as Rothenhausler came around to score following a Spartans' fielding error to begin the frame. The junior moved to second on a single from Frey, advanced to third on a fly out and crossed home plate on a sacrifice fly by Zampella.
The Warriors added one run in both the seventh and eighth innings to make the final score 10-1 as Rothenhausler and Vicendese each drove in a run.
Up Next
ESU is right back at Creekview Park on Tuesday as the Warriors host Queens for a single nine-inning game beginning at 3 p.m.
