STROUDSBURG – The 16th-ranked and top-seed East Stroudsburg University softball team opened the NCAA Atlantic Regional in style with an 11-1 win over Bowie State in five innings on Wednesday afternoon at Creekview Park.

The No. 1 seed Warriors (46-15) enter the winner's bracket and will face No. 4 seed Kutztown (34-22) on Friday at 11:00 a.m. The Golden Bears (34-22) defeated Shippensburg, 4-2 in the second game on Thursday. The Raiders (33-20) will face Bowie State (20-22) in an elimination game on Friday at 1:30 p.m.

With the score tied at 1-1 after the top of the 2nd, the Warriors took control with an 8-run bottom of the third and reached the run-rule threshold with two runs in the bottom of the 4th.

Major Milestones:

• ESU head coach and PSAC East Coach of the Year, Jaime Wohlbach, registered her 400th career win against the Bulldogs, picking up her 231st win as a Warrior, while previously registering wins at NCAA DI Delaware (51) and Iona (115). Wohlbach became ESU's all-time wins leader on March 26th at Millersville with her 209th win at ESU. This season, she has guided the Warriors to its single-season wins record of 45 wins last week in the PSAC Tournament against Kutztown.
• All-PSAC East First Team selection Reilly Vicendese became the Warriors' career stolen bases leader in the bottom of the 1st inning, swiping a bag after earning a walk. Vicendese breaks Kaylee Hazewski's (2017-20) record of 104 stolen bases. Vicendese has rewritten the record book this season, now holding career records in hits, RBIs, runs, and now stolen bases.
• All-PSAC East Second Team outfielder Taylor Lipkins broke Vicendese's (76 hits, 2023) single-season record for hits against Bowie State, now with 77 base hits on the season. The Warrior leadoff hitter also leads the team in batting average (.377), walks (17), and on-base percentage (.471).

Offensive Notables:

• Lipkins (3-4, 3B, 2 runs, RBI) and Kaitlin Houser (3-3, 2 runs, 2B) paced the Warriors with three hits each.
• Vicendese (2-3, 2B, RBI, BB, 2-2 SB), Shannon Edelman (2-3, 3B), and Katie Master (2-3) all provided multiple hits.
• Denva Shaw-Tait (1-3, 2B, RBI) and Kate Donaghue (1-1, 2B, RBI) both produced runs.
• Abigail Weirich walked twice and stole a pair of bags on two attempts.

Pitching Notables:

• Paige Zigmund (W, 20-8) tossed all five innings for the Warriors, allowing four hits and three walks while firing three strikeouts. She did not concede an earned run (1 unearned) and gave up just one extra-base hit.

How It Happened:

• The Warriors struck first in their first at-bats, with Lipkins leading off the contest with a triple and scoring on a wild pitch.
• In the top of the 2nd inning, BSU answered. After an ESU throwing error allowed a runner to reach second base and a steal, an RBI single accounted for the unearned run by BSU.
• With the game knotted in the bottom of the 3rd, ESU's offense exploded with eight runs on eight hits and took advantage of four errors by Bowie State. Edelman recorded an RBI single and scored on an error. Shaw-Tait connected on an RBI double. Houser produced a run with an RBI single to score Shaw-Tait. Houser and Master scored on the third and fourth errors by BSU. Vicendese smacked an RBI single and would score on a wild pitch to wrap up the inning. ESU grabbed a 9-1 lead.
• BSU opened the fourth inning with a double, but a double play that saw Weirich catch a flyout and throw out a runner at third base cleared the bases. Zigmund fired a strikeout for the final out.
• ESU reached the run-rule threshold with two runs on four hits in the bottom of the 4th. Houser smacked a one-out double to reach scoring position. Donaghue smacked a pinch-hit RBI double to score Houser and lift the Warriors to a 10-1 edge. After Donaghue advanced to third base on a wild pitch, Lipkins recorded an infield single to score Donaghue for the 11th and final run.
• Zigmund conceded a leadoff single in the top of the 5th but turned a double play with a lineout and cleared the bases by getting the runner out at first. She tossed her third and final strikeout for the final out, as ESU entered the winner's bracket with the 11-1 win in five innings.

Up Next:

• ESU will look to advance in the winner's bracket on Friday against the Golden Bears. The loser between the Warriors and Golden Bears will face the winner of No. 5 Shippensburg and No. 8 Bowie State at 4:00 p.m. in an elimination game.