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JOHNSTOWN - Junior outfielder Chris Knott hit a three-run, two-out homer in the top of the seventh inning after a lightning delay of four hours, 13 minutes and East Stroudsburg University outlasted Gannon for an 8-5 win in the first round of the PSAC Baseball Tournament on Wednesday at Point Stadium.

First pitch was at 3:30 p.m., and the final out was recorded at 10:10 p.m. as junior Keenan Stare got a 6-4-3 double play to erase Gannon's rally in the ninth inning. Time of game was 6:40, including the lightning delay, which started at 4:57 p.m. with the score tied 4-4 and Gannon batting in the sixth inning, and didn't allow play to resume until 9:10 p.m.

The victory gives ESU (30-16), the #3 seed in the PSAC East, the second 30-win season in school history and a match-up with Millersville (PSAC East #1) or Slippery Rock (PSAC West #4) in the winners bracket on Thursday night. The Millersville-Slippery Rock game was postponed to Thursday at 8 a.m., the first of five games scheduled.

UPDATE: ESU faces Millersville at 8 p.m. Thursday night, weather-permitting. Millersville's Tim Mayza threw a four-hitter in a 5-0 shutout of Slippery Rock to complete a 4-0 start for the PSAC East.

The Warriors handed Gannon's Shayne Herold, the PSAC West Pitcher of the Year, his first loss of the season (9-1). Herold, who was 4th in Division II in ERA (1.09) and hits allowed per 9 innings (5.46) in last week's statistical rankings, had allowed just seven runs in 57.2 innings before getting tagged for eight runs in seven innings on Wednesday night.

After the delay, Knott broke the game open with a three-run homer to left-center, the last of four straight two-out hits. Knott was 3-for-5 with four RBI, two doubles and his home run, along with a catch in deep center with two runners on and ESU leading 8-5 in the bottom of the seventh.

ESU scored seven of its eight runs with two outs, with four coming on extra-base hits. The Warriors had 13 hits in the contest and 12 in the last six innings.

Senior pitcher Brian Ernst went the first 5.2 innings on the mound and was 4-for-5 at the plate, including his school record-tying 44th career double. Earlier in the day, Ernst was named the NCBWA Division II Pitcher of the Week for his three-hit shutout and school record 15 strikeouts in a 2-0 win at Millersville last Friday that put the Warriors in the PSAC Tournament for the third time in four seasons.  (complete release)

In the early going, Gannon scored twice in the bottom of the first before ESU battled back, scoring one run in the fourth, two in the fifth and one in the sixth before Gannon's Michael Tomko hit a two-homer to tie it for the Golden Knights in the bottom of the sixth - just before the delay.

Ernst had ESU's only hit in the first three innings, then led off the fourth with a base hit. He moved to second on a groundout and scored ESU's first run on a two-out double by senior 2B Joe Bennie to the right-center gap.

In the fifth, redshirt sophomore OF Andy Brandstetter and junior SS Eric Linares put together back-to-back one-out singles to turn the lineup over. Bennie beat out a double play ball to score Brandstetter with the tying run, then scored the go-ahead run on Ernst's two-out double to the right-center gap.

Knott belted a one-out double, his second of the game, in the sixth inning and scored on a two-out double down the right field line to put the Warriors ahead 4-2.

After Tomko's homer in the sixth and the long delay, junior Colin Taylor relieved Ernst and got a strikeout with runners on first and second and two outs after play resumed.

Gannon sent Herold back to the mound in the seventh and got consecutive strikeouts before ESU put together its four straight hits to take the lead for good. Ernst, senior OF Eric Boyer and junior DH Mike Tenaglia all singled and Knott dealt the decisive blow with his three-run homer to left-center for an 8-4 lead.

Stare relieved Taylor in the eighth and pitched around a one-out walk to strand a runner on second base.

In the ninth, a hit batter, walk and wild pitch put runners on first and third with one out and brought the tying run to the plate, but Stare got catcher Nico Baldelli to hit a groundball to junior SS Eric Linares, who flipped to Bennie at second and completed the double play.

In the first two games of the tournament, Kutztown beat Mercyhurst 6-1 in the opener, and West Chester beat California, 5-0, behind a four-hit shutout by Joe Gunkel.


GAME NOTES

* ESU set a school record with 32 wins in 2009. This year's 30-win season is the 2nd in school history.

* ESU is in the PSAC Tournament for the 3rd time in 4 years, also qualifying in 2010 and 2011.

* Ernst had 4 strikeouts in 5.2 innings, along with going 4-for-5 at the plate. He has 74 strikeouts in 52.1 innings this year. He entered the week ranked 2nd in Division II in strikeouts per 9 innings (13.31 - 69 in 46.2 innings).

* Ernst moved into 5th at ESU in career hits (194) and is also 5th in career strikeouts (186).
* He tied the school record of 44 held by Kevin Thompson (2005-09) and Chris Zsenak (2006-09).
* He tied J.D. Stern for 4th in career extra-base hits with 56.
* He tied Kyle Sheaffer for 5th in career total bases with 271.

* Knott's homer was his 6th of the season and 13th of his career.

* Stare's save was his 2nd of the season and 5th of his career. He also had the save in a 4-3 win at Millersville in the second game of last Friday's sweep.

* ESU is ranked No. 7 in this week's NCAA DII Atlantic Region rankings. Millersville is No. 1, followed by Winston-Salem, Seton Hill, Kutztown, Shippensburg, California, ESU and Concord. Winston-Salem (CIAA) and Concord (WVIAC) have earned automatic bids. The PSAC champion will also receive an automatic bid, with the final three spots given to at-large teams.