BB4-4-01

ESU-West Chester Baseball

EAST STROUDSBURG - Bryan Yagel, East Stroudsburg University's sensational new first baseman, went 5-for-7 at the plate and drove in six runs as the Warriors split a Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference baseball doubleheader against West Chester Wednesday.

The Golden Rams won the opener, 9-8, rallying from an 8-2 deficit. ESU took the second game, 9-4, behind Mike Zimorowicz's three-hit pitching.

Yagel increased his conference-leading batting average to .486 with 34 hits in 70 at-bats. He now has 41 runs-batted-in in 20 games, an average of 2.05 per game. The NCAA Division II RBI record is 2.19 per game set by Mike Boyd of Shaw in 1994 with 68 RBIs in 31 games.

The Warriors were behind, 4-0, in the second game, but scored three runs in the third inning and then took the lead with five runs in the fourth. Ryan Hatfield drove in runs with singles in each inning and went 3-for-4.

Tadgh LaBar was 3-for-5 and Yagel, Matt Harmic and Steve Harris all were 2-for-3.

After giving up the four runs in the second inning, Zimorowicz pitched one-hit shutout ball the rest of the way. He struck out seven batters in evening his season record at 3-3.

In the opener, ESU took a quick 3-0 lead on Yagel's two-run triple and Harmic's run-producing single in the first inning. After West Chester scored twice in the top of the second, the Warriors poured across five more runs in the bottom of the inning with Yagel hitting a two-run single and Joe Sobeski a two-run double.

The six-run lead wasn't enough, however, as the Golden Rams slowly chipped away, taking advantage of game totals of nine walks and a hit-batsman. They won the contest with three runs in the seventh inning with two scoring on Tony Piggaluga's single and the winning run coming across on Jesse Carolla's sacrifice fly.

Losing pitcher Jason Ryan, who hurled a no-hitter in his last start against Bloomsburg, extended his string of hitless innings to nine over three games before Carolla hit a sharp single to centerfield in the second inning.

Yagel was 3-for-4 and Harmic 2-for 4.

(First Game)

West Chester 021 300 3 9-7-2

East Stroudsburg 350 000 0 8-8-3

Brent Wylie, Stephen Fleck (2), Bob Truskey (7) and Jared Nace; ESU - Jason Ryan, Ryan Amey (7) and Joe Sobeski. WP - Fleck, LP - Ryan. Save - Truskey

2B - ES, Tadgh LaBar, Joe Sobeski, Matt Harmic; WC, Mike Welsh

3B - ES, Yagel

(Second Game)

West Chester 040 000 0 4-3-3

East Stroudsburg 003 510 x 9-14-1

Paul Spiewak, Stephen Fleck (5) and Jared Nace; Mike Zimorowicz and Eric Lenz. LP - Spiewak.

Records: West Chester 13-13-1 (2-2 PSAC); ESU 12-7-1 (4-2 PSAC)

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