PSAC baseball tournament release / Harrisburg Patriot-News preview

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EAST STROUDSBURG – East Stroudsburg University has won 15 of its last 18 games, including a school record 11-game winning streak, to enter the postseason as one of the conference's hottest teams when the PSAC baseball tournament begins on Wednesday at Point Stadium in Johnstown.

The Warriors went 9-3 in their final three PSAC East series, including a sweep of Millersville on April 16-17 that gave them a critical tiebreaker over the Marauders, after sitting at the bottom of the division standings with a 2-10 record on April 7.

The last two weeks culminated with a playoff-clinching 5-4 win over Mansfield in the second game of Saturday's doubleheader, with freshman Brian Ernst getting the final three outs for his first career save one day after throwing a complete game in a 9-4 win over the Mounties.

Third-year head coach John Kochmansky has led an ESU team with just three seniors to the fourth PSAC playoff appearance in school history, one year after the Warriors won a school-record 32 games. Kochmansky was an assistant coach on the 2007 team which made ESU's most recent playoff appearance, which included a 9-5 win over No. 1-ranked Kutztown.

ESU (26-18) is the No. 4 seed in the PSAC East and will face IUP (29-22), the PSAC West regular season champion, on Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. in the last of four first-round games at Point Stadium. Kutztown (34-11, PSAC East No. 2) faces Mercyhurst (25-20, PSAC West No. 3) in the other half of ESU's bracket in the double-elimination tournament, which will continue through Saturday.

Senior left-hander Christian Saveri has been the Warriors' team leader all season since throwing six no-hit innings against UMass-Lowell in the season-opener on February 27 to earn the first of his three PSAC East Pitcher of the Week awards.

Saveri led the PSAC with a 2.06 ERA entering last weekend and has a 2.70 ERA, 60 strikeouts and just 13 walks in 63.1 innings, the most by an ESU pitcher since 2002. He picked up saves in conference games against Bloomsburg and Shippensburg while making all six weekend starts, which featured wins over West Chester (3-1), Shippensburg (3-1) and Millersville (5-1).

He was an All-PSAC East reliever last season, posting a 3.24 ERA in 50.0 innings over a school record 22 appearances. His first appearance in the PSAC playoffs will be the 65th of his career, establishing another ESU record.

ESU's pitching staff has ranked among the top 10 in NCAA Division II in strikeouts per nine innings for most of the season, entering the postseason with 312 in 320.1 innings, an average of 8.8 per game.

Three first-year players – Ernst, freshman Colin Kelly and sophomore Ryan Beck – have provided major contributions on the mound as the Warriors lost senior Jeremy Gigliotti, a preseason All-American, due to injury after just 12.0 innings this season.

Ernst won his last three PSAC East starts, including complete game wins over Millersville and Mansfield, and has a 5-2 record with 47 strikeouts in 47.0 innings over 10 games on the mound. He is also the primary first baseman and is hitting .308 with 12 doubles, six home runs and a team-high 31 RBI while being penciled into the lineup in 43 of the Warriors' 44 games.

Kelly and Beck have continued to improve throughout the year, both as starters and out of the bullpen. Kelly has a 4.46 ERA in 15 games (five starts) with 35 strikeouts in 38.1 innings, and Beck has appeared in 12 games (six starts), posting a 4.81 ERA and 34 strikeouts over 39.1 innings. Sophomore Chad Jacobson has also stepped into a leadership role in the bullpen, making 20 appearances with 28 strikeouts and seven walks in 32.2 innings.

Offensively, sophomore SS Evan Gallagher has sparked the Warriors at the top of the order, with a .399 batting average, .456 on-base percentage, 37 runs and 28 RBI. He has 65 hits, one of the top 10 seasons in school history, and 110 hits in his first two years after posting a .363 batting average as a freshman.

Gallagher has also been the constant presence for ESU defensively and is the only player to start all 44 games. He has a .932 fielding percentage at shortstop and ESU's .959 percentage as a team is in the top five in the conference. The rest of the defensive lineup has shifted throughout the season, with 12 players starting at least 15 games.

Junior 3B/LF Jason Kelmer, senior 1B/OF Kenny Serfass and Ernst have given the Warriors the bulk of their power at the plate, combining for 20 of their 35 home runs. Kelmer, a junior college transfer, has a team-best eight home runs with 27 RBI, 29 runs and a .316 batting average, while Ernst and Serfass both have six homers.

Two more freshmen, C/DH Nico Delerme and OF Eric Boyer, have also been standouts offensively. Delerme is hitting .407 with a .489 on-base percentage (33-81, 12 walks), while Boyer has a .393 batting average with 14 extra-base hits, 24 RBI and 28 runs. Boyer led ESU with a .444 average in conference play before suffering an injury at Millersville on April 17.

Senior Brendan O'Connor, junior Bryce Muth and Delerme have given the Warriors plenty of depth behind the plate. O'Connor (.250) is a three-year starter and has thrown out 40 percent of opposing base stealers this season (14-35), while Muth is hitting .324 with six doubles in a part-time role and has helped handle ESU's young pitching staff.

The remainder of the lineup includes sophomore CF Carey Zimmerman (.277), one of the top defensive players in the conference, freshman OF Evan Cain (.295), sophomore 2B Ryan Guarino (.352) and redshirt sophomore 2B/3B Jake Griesemer (.301). Guarino is hitting .500 in the last 12 games and Griesemer has started 41 games as a valuable part of the Warriors' defensive rotation.

The Warriors are 6-4 in their previous three tournament appearances, going 1-2 in 2007, 3-2 to finish as the runner-up in 1985 and 2-0 to win the title in 1971. ESU also won PSAC championships under the Saylor rating system in 1957, 1963 and 1969.


PSAC baseball tournament pairings/schedule

Bracket A
E1 West Chester
W2 California
E3 Mansfield
W4 Slippery Rock

Bracket B
W1 IUP
E2 Kutztown
W3 Mercyhurst
E4 East Stroudsburg


Schedule

Wednesday, April 28
Game 1 - (W2) California vs. (E3) Mansfield, 9:30 a.m.
Game 2 - (E1) West Chester vs. (W4) Slippery Rock, 12:30 p.m.
Game 3 - (E2) Kutztown vs. (W3) Mercyhurst, 3:30 p.m.
Game 4 - (W1) IUP vs. (E4) East Stroudsburg, 6:30 p.m.

Thursday, April 29
Game 5 - Game 1 loser vs. Game 2 loser (loser eliminated), 9:30 a.m.
Game 6 - Game 3 loser vs. Game 4 loser (loser eliminated), 12:30 p.m.
Game 7- Game 1 winner vs. Game 2 winner, 3:30 p.m.
Game 8 - Game 3 winner vs. Game 4 winner, 6:30 p.m.

Friday, April 30
Game 9 - Game 5 winner vs. Game 7 loser (loser eliminated), 9:30 a.m.
Game 10 - Game 6 winner vs. Game 8 loser (loser eliminated), 12:30 p.m.
Game 11 - Game 9 winner vs. Game 7 winner, 3:30 p.m.
Game 12 - Game 10 winner vs. Game 8 winner, 6:30 p.m.

Saturday, May 1
If one game if needed (both Game 7 & Game 8 winners win in Games 11 & 12)
Game 13 - Championship Game, 1:00 p.m.

If two games are needed (If only one of Game 7 or Game 8 winners win Games 11 or 12)
Game 13 - If needed game, 12:00 p.m.
Game 14 - Championship game, 3:00 p.m.

If three games are needed (If both Game 9 and Game 10 winners win Game 11 and Game 12)
Game 13 - Bracket A (rematch of Game 11), 10:00 a.m.
Game 14 - Bracket B (rematch of Game 12), 1:00 p.m.
Game 15 - Championship game, 4:00 p.m.