MANSFIELD, Pa. - The Mansfield Mountaineers baseball team (7-16, 3-11 PSAC East) welcomed in the No. 12 nationally ranked East Stroudsburg Warriors (22-3, 10-0 PSAC East) for a Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) doubleheader at Joseph Shaute Field.

GAME 1

Tyler Swineford started game one for the Mountaineers but a tight strike zone got the best of him as he lasted just 2/3 innings giving up four runs on two hits and walking four. 

Luke Payne came in and got his first batter to ground out to first to end the top half of the first as the Warriors took a 4-0 advantage into the bottom of the inning. 

Over the next three innings, ESU added four runs to take an 8-0 lead into the top of the fifth.

Ryan Verbonitz registered the first Mountaineers hit in the bottom of the fifth.

East Stroudsburg continued to add on over the final two innings, taking game one 17-0.

GAME 2

The Warriors once again jumped on the Mounties early in game two scoring four runs in the top of the first.

Zachary Shertzer plated the first Mansfield run of the day with an RBI double that scored Ryan Scott. 

Jacob Houtz cut the ESU lead to two with a Sac fly to right field, scoring Scott in the bottom of the third. Verbonitz followed with an RBI single to score Shertzer and make it a 4-3 game. 

After the Verbonitz single, the Warriors made a pitching change to try and get out of the inning but the Mansfield offense continued to roll. 

Ryan Sekulski singled to left field tying the game at four before Jeffrey Coakley singled right back up the middle, bringing home both Sekulski and Verbonitz to give the Mounties a 6-4 lead. 

In the bottom of the fifth, the Mountaineers added an insurance run when Cole Serfass scored on Sekulski's fielder's choice. 

Eric Gustofson settled in after a difficult top of the first, holding ESU scoreless over the next four innings. He ended his day with 5.0 innings pitched while allowing just three hits and four runs. 

Alex Buccolo entered from the bullpen in the sixth and got two outs quickly. However, East Stroudsburg got two runs back with a two-run shot over the right-center field wall. The Warriors followed the home run with an RBI single to tie the game at seven. 

Coach Chalot made the move to bring in freshman, Garrett Emerick to try and get the final out of the sixth. Emerick got the first batter he faced to pop out to first and keep the game 7-7. 

With runners on first and second in the bottom of the sixth, Serfass lined out to right field and ESU doubled off the runner from first and ended the Mountaineers' threat.

Emerick worked himself into trouble in the top of the seventh loading the bases with no outs. He got the next batter to ground out to Houtz who fired home to cut down the runner. The Warriors' next batter hit a sacrifice fly to take an 8-7 lead.

With two outs in the inning, Joseph Gleason came in to hold ESU at eight. East Stroudsburg had runners on first and third but Gleason got his first batter to strike out on four pitches. 

Verbonitz was robbed of a lead-off single in the bottom of the seventh as the ESU centerfielder laid out to make a diving grab and record the first out.

Sekulski lined a ball to center to get the tying run on base for the Mounties. Mansfield left the runner stranded and fell to ESU in game two by a final score of 8-7. 

UP NEXT:

The Mountaineers travel to East Stroudsburg for the final two games of the series tomorrow, Saturday, March 30. Game one is scheduled for 1:00 p.m.