EAST STROUDSBURG, Pa. — The ESU baseball team is set to take on the No. 24 Millersville Marauders this weekend, kicking off its first PSAC East series of the season on the road Friday afternoon.

SCOUTING EAST STROUDSBURG

• The Warriors enter conference play with an 11-6 record, winning eight of their last 10. They’ve won two of their three series so far, sweeping D’Youville and taking three of four against Saint Anselm, splitting a four-game series against Pitt-Johnstown earlier in the season.
• The Warriors have been fairly balanced between their production at the plate and on the mound. ESU ranks fifth in total runs scored, plating 126, while allowing 68 earned runs, good for eighth in the PSAC. The Warriors’ team OBP of .454 leads the conference, as they also have the most bases on balls in the PSAC with 110.
• Hitting-wise, the Warriors have six batters in their lineup posting a .300 batting average or better. Three of those, Parker Frey, Walker Zampella, and Connor Reilly, also have an OPS of above 1.000. Frey leads the team with a .413 average and 1.207 OPS, hitting nine extra base hits, drawing 13 walks, and driving in 14 runs. Reilly and Zampella lead the team in drawn walks, recording 15 and 14, respectively. 
• Braydon Hubbard has had a good start to the season as ESU’s leadoff hitter, posting a .333 batting average with a .937 OPS. Hubbard had a seven-game hitting streak earlier in the year that started in ESU’s second game against Saint Anselm, going through the third game versus D’Youville.
• ESU has six players with 10 or more RBI through the first 17 games, with Frey’s 14 leading the team. Easton Albert and Ryan Manning are right behind him with 13 each, doing so in two different ways. All of Albert’s hits this year have been singles, while Manning is the lone Warrior to have multiple home runs, also hitting a double and a triple this season. Zander Condeelis and Cole Serfass both have 11 as well. Two new faces to the ESU lineup, Condeelis, a redshirt freshman, and Serfass, a junior, both transferred to East Stroudsburg before the start of the season. Condeelis has taken over the starting job at third base, hitting ninth in the lineup with a .300 average. Serfass has batted third all season as the designated hitter, posting the third-most hits on the team this year.
• On the mound, ESU has gotten shutdown pitching from its starters. Led by Ryan Dewees, the Warriors’ rotation behind him includes Ethan Woods, Evan Hughes, and Cade Davis. Dewees has a team-best 1.44 ERA, as batters are only hitting .211 against him. He leads the team with 29 strikeouts in five appearances, only allowing four earned runs as well. 
• Woods only allowed two earned runs in each of his first two starts, improving on that with six scoreless innings against D’Youville and a shutout inning in a relief appearance against Felician last time out. 
• Hughes has an identical batting average against, leading the team with a 4-0 record in five appearances. A transfer from York, he’s solidified himself as the day two starter for ESU through a strong start to his career as a Warrior. He was named the PSAC East Pitcher of the Week for his performance against Pitt-Johnstown, striking out eight in five scoreless innings against the Mountain Cats. He later followed that up with a six-inning shutout outing against D’Youville in his most recent start. 
• After coming out of the bullpen for his first two appearances, Davis has settled in as the Warriors’ fourth starter. In his two games beginning them on the mound for ESU, Davis threw 10.0 IP, struck out 12, and didn’t allow an earned run.
• While the Warriors are still figuring out who their go-to pitchers can be out of the bullpen, one constant for ESU this season has been Cole Dymek. Pitching 7.1 IP across four appearances, he’s yet to give up an earned run, striking out nine batters as well.

SCOUTING MILLERSVILLE

• After a 4-4 start, the Marauders have rattled off 11 straight wins to improve to 15-4. After dropping the first of its three-game series against Goldey-Beacom, they’ve since won both games against Jefferson, won all three times against Concord, and went 4-0 against Pitt-Johnstown. The Marauders have found success playing at home, going 11-1 at Cooper Park. However, they haven’t had to play a game elsewhere in over a month, falling to Felician in a neutral site game on Feb. 15.
• Millersville’s stats up to this point have been similar to those of ESU. Averaging 8.1 runs per game, the Marauders have totaled 154 for the third most in the conference. Their pitching as a team has been above average, posting the sixth-best ERA in the PSAC with a mark of 4.20. Their strength has been generating strikeouts, which, on a per nine-inning rate, they do better than anyone in the conference, averaging 10.8.
• Leading the way for Millersville at the plate has been Matthew Williams. Batting .407 with a 1.278 OPS, Williams already has nine extra base hits, four of which are home runs. He’s been walked 18 times, getting on base in over half of his plate appearances.
• Brady Ebbert is a familiar face in the PSAC, but with a new team this season, transferring over from Bloomsburg. Over the last three weeks, Ebbert has been one of Millersville’s top two hitters, as he’s hit .405 with 13 RBI.
• Xavier Smith has stepped into a starting role after coming off the bench last season, turning into one of the Marauders’ top offensive contributors. He’s been Millersville’s third and final player batting over .300, notching a hit in .326 of his plate appearances.
• Millersville’s rotation has started to take shape, comprising Eli Simonton, Rece Ritchey, Alex Kuehn, and Matt Shamany. Simonton, a freshman, made his first start against Pitt-Johnstown after five bullpen appearances. He posted nine strikeouts in a five-inning start, leading the team with a 0.95 ERA.
• Matt Shamany and Rece Ritchey have both been converted from relief pitchers to starters, with batters only averaging a .173 hitting average against each of them. Shamany has made one fewer start than Ritchey’s five, posting a 1.74 ERA to Richey’s 2.38. Ritchey leads the team with 26 strikeouts as well.
• Alex Kuehn rounds out the group, as he’s produced four steady outings after a shaky first. Allowing 12 earned runs over the first three innings of the Marauders’ first game of the year at Wingate, he’s allowed five since then in four other starts.
• Joe Morrissey has been Millersville’s most consistent arm out of the bullpen, making six appearances across 16.0 IP. He’s given hitters trouble, as they’ve hit just .164 against him while he’s posted a 1.13 ERA.

SERIES HISTORY

• The Warriors were swept by the Marauders for the first time since 2011 last season. However, the two games that weren’t played in Millersville were at Coca-Cola Park in Allentown, Pa. ESU has won its last four home games against the Marauders, going back to 2022. On the flip side, Millersville has defended home field well, winning four of the last five games played at Cooper Park.
• Overall, ESU has gone 92-117-1 against Millersville, with the first series being played in 1936. Prior to last season, the Warriors had their best stretch against the Marauders in quite some time from 2022-24, going 6-6, including a win in the 2022 NCAA Tournament.