STROUDSBURG, Pa. — The ESU baseball team worked a comeback victory on Tuesday against Queens College, taking down the Knights 5-4 to improve to 14-8.
PITCHING NOTABLES
- The Warriors used six different pitchers in today's contest, giving Caden Leonard the start. Leonard had a solid outing outside of two mistakes Queens capitalized on, as he struck out six batters in 3.0 IP.
- The group of Evan Kovalcik, Kyle Phillips, Peyton Brannock, and Jake Albert kept the Knights off the scoreboard from the fifth inning on. They combined for four strikeouts, only allowing two hits over the final four innings. Brannock got credit for the win, pitching two complete innings in the seventh and eighth, picking up his second win of the season to improve to 2-2. Albert came into the game in the ninth inning for his fourth save of the season.
BATTING NOTABLES
- Five different Warriors recorded an RBI to fuel the Warriors' balanced offense. Cole Serfass and Connor Reilly led the team with two hits each, as Reilly also stole one base.
- The other ESU RBI came courtesy of Jackson Rutecki, Easton Albert, and Walker Zampella. The first two drove in their runs with RBI singles, while Zampella recorded a sacrifice fly.
- Troy Davis, Parker Frey, and Aidan Butz all got on base multiple times, with Davis reaching a team-high three times safely, all by base on balls. Frey and Butz would each walk once and tally a hit, as Butz also was one of the Warriors' five runs scored.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- After two strong innings from Leonard, Queens broke through with back-to-back hits in the top of the third. Vincent Mallon hit a one-out triple just past the glove of Butz in right field, and John Harkins hit a home run inside the left field line the next at-bat, making it 2-0.
- The Warriors got on the board later in the bottom of the fourth, as Serfass led off the inning with an infield single, beating out a throw to first base from the opposite side of the diamond. After an errant throw by Matt Rosenberg trying to pick off Serfass, he was able to easily move up to second base. Two batters later, Rutecki delivered with a ground ball up the middle that made it through the infield to bring Serfass all the way around to score, cutting the Knights' lead in half.
- Both teams scored twice in the fifth, as Queens regained its two-run lead but ESU instantly got the runs back. Kovalcik entered the game with runners on first and second with no outs, as both Knights moved up in his first at-bat off a sacrifice bunt down the third base line. Michael Vilardi singled to center field, which scored the lead two runners, but Butz's relay throw came into Frey, who alertly threw to third base to get the trailing runner and end the inning.
- Starting the bottom half of the inning, Butz got on base with a single to right center, then stole second base in the next at-bat. Zander Condeelis hit a ground ball to the shortstop that prevented Butz from moving up, but gave himself enough time to beat the throw to first base. The Warriors then pulled off a double steal after Dominick Persichilli took over on the mound, with Zampella bringing home the first run of the inning off a groundout to the shortstop. Serfass then put a charge into a line drive to right field, but the Knights recorded the out to limit the damage to just a sacrifice fly that scored Condeelis.
- The Warriors would tie it their next time up. Reilly hit a ball inside the right field line, finding space as the first baseman, second baseman, and right fielder all were unable to make the play. After Reilly stole second base to move into scoring position, Albert sent a liner through the left side of the infield, making the score 4-4 in the bottom of the sixth.
- ESU's pitching did its job, giving the bats the opportunity to take the lead in the bottom of the eighth. Serfass singled through the middle to start the inning, and then advanced to second base on a wild pitch. Ryan Manning pinch ran for him, and after a walk by Frey, Reilly singled to left field to give ESU the lead as Manning would score.
- Albert entered the game for ESU in the top of the ninth, shutting the door on Queens' last chance. He struck out his first two batters faced, and Albert recorded the final out to secure the win.
UP NEXT
The Warriors welcome in to Creekview Park another ranked PSAC East rival, as the No. 21 Golden Rams visit for a weekend series that will begin at 1 p.m. on Friday, March 27.
