Box Score

Recaps: Wednesday: Mercyhurst (W 18-11) l Thursday: Slippery Rock (W 13-4) l ESU Preview

BUTLER, Pa. - East Stroudsburg University rallied from an 8-2 deficit with five runs in the bottom of the eighth inning, but Seton Hill held on for an 11-7 win in the PSAC Baseball Tournament on Friday night at Kelly Automotive Park.

ESU (30-18) will face Seton Hill (42-10), ranked No. 7 in DII by the NCBWA and No. 8 by Collegiate Baseball Newspaper, on Saturday at 11 a.m. in an elimination game for both teams.

Saturday morning's winner will play Millersville for the 2015 PSAC championship at 2 p.m.

ESU and Millersville entered the day as the only undefeated teams in the tournament, both at 2-0. Millersville rallied from 6-3 down in the ninth for a 7-6 (10 inn.) win vs. Mercyhurst to advance to Saturday.

ESU, which won the 2013 PSAC championship in Johnstown, advances to Saturday play for the second time in three years. The Warriors qualified for the tournament on the final weekend of the regular season, winning three games vs. Bloomsburg to secure the PSAC East's No. 4 seed.

The Warriors opened the tournament with an 18-11 win vs. PSAC West No. 1 seed Mercyhurst on Wednesday, and a 13-4 win vs. Slippery Rock on Thursday. ESU has scored 38 runs on 51 hits through its first three games.

Seton Hill, 13th in DII with 8.6 runs per game, led 8-2 through seven innings before the Warriors put together five runs on six hits off three pitchers for the Griffins.

Seton Hill responded with three runs in the top of the ninth to force the elimination game for both teams on Saturday morning. SHU knocked out California, 10-9, on Friday afternoon.

ESU had 12 hits, including two each by redshirt sophomore SS Conner Crookham, junior 1B Dylan Tamecki, redshirt junior OF Matt Walewski and freshman OF Christian Rishel.

Redshirt sophomore OF Casey Saverio hit a solo home run in the first inning, and Tamecki singled and scored on an RBI single by sophomore OF Ian Allen in the fourth.

Seton Hill pushed its lead to 7-2 with four runs in the fifth, then added another in the seventh.

In the bottom of the eighth, redshirt sophomore 2B Jay Young led off with a single and Crookham had a one-out single to put runners on second and third.

Seton Hill relieved starter Zach Martinelli (7.1 IP, 4 runs, 3 earned, 8 hits) with Joe Shaffer, who didn't record an out while facing five batters.

Tamecki had a two-RBI single, Allen walked, Hercik and Walewski had RBI singles and Rishel singled to load the bases and knock out Shaffer, who was replaced by DH Logan Urtz.

After a strikeout, Young drew a bases-loaded walk to make it 8-7 before Saverio lined out to left field for the final out of the inning with the bases loaded.

Seton Hill All-America third baseman Nick Sell (3-for-4, 3 RBI, 2 runs) sparked a three-run ninth with a triple for the Griffins.

No. 2 hitter Garret Vrbanic, hitting in front of Sell, was 3-for-3 with three RBI and two runs for Seton Hill for six of the Griffins' 15 hits.

ESU used five pitchers with redshirt sophomore Marty Martens pitching effectively through four innings, allowing three runs against SHU's high-powered offense, before trouble in the fifth.

Sophomore Ben Bortz threw 2.0 innings (sixth and seventh), allowing just an unearned run.

Through three games in Butler, ESU is batting .395 with Walewski (8-for-13, 3 doubles, 4 runs) and Tamecki (8-for-13, HR, 6 RBI, 8 runs) both batting .615.

Crookham (7-for-15, 2B, 2 HR, 4 RBI, 8 runs) is hitting .467, Allen (6-for-13, 3B, 2 HR,7 RBI, 5 runs) is at .462 and Rishel (6-for-15, 3 2B, 3 RBI, 2 runs) at .400.

ESU, without two of its top three starting pitchers at full strength due to injury, has had strong pitching outings from redshirt junior Matt Festa (7.0 IP vs. Mercyhurst) and sophomore Tyler Eckman, a first team All-PSAC East reliever who threw a complete game vs. Slippery Rock on Thursday.