Warriors sweep Mansfield in weekend doubleheader

By Cory Nidoh 

Asst. Sports. Editor

As the weather began to heat up this weekend, so did the bats of the ESU Warriors as they pounded Mansfield this weekend and swept the four-game series.

The offense scored 47 runs on 54 hits over the weekend, resulting in school records being broken by Keenan Stare and Chris Knott.

ESU won by scores of 5-4, 9-3, 14-8,  and 19-6 as they improved to 24-11 overall and 10-8 in conference play.

ESU began the series with a come-from-behind-victory after trailing 4-0 early in the game.

The Warriors would cut the lead in half in the second inning as senior outfielder Chris Knott and senior catcher Nico Delerme drove in runs with singles to make it 4-2.

Then in the sixth inning, the Warriors put together a productive frame as redshirt freshman second baseman Jay Young had a two-run single to tie the game, and then redshirt sophomore third baseman Drew Herick pushed the go-ahead run across the plate with a two-out triple to take a 6-5 lead.

In the top half of the seventh inning, senior pitcher Keenan Stare came in and closed the game out to earn his record setting eleventh save of the season after retiring the side in order with a strikeout and two groundouts.

With the save, Stare solely owns the school record for career saves.

In the second game of the double dip, the Warriors came out on top with a 9-3 win.

The Warriors had a solid outing from redshirt sophomore Matt Festa who got the win after tossing 6.2 innings, scattering nine hits while just allowing three runs.

ESU put up a crooked number in the sixth inning as four runs came around to score as they took care of the Mounties.

On Sunday, the Warriors offense exploded as they outscored Mansfield 33-14 in the twin bill.

The offense was paced by Knott who set the school record for career home runs as he now has 19 in his illustrious career at ESU.  In the first game, the Warriors scored three runs in the second, six in the third, one in the fourth, and a pair of runs in the sixth and seventh innings to win 14-8.

Knott, who had 15 home runs coming into Sunday’s action, tied the record with two home runs coming in the fashion of a solo home run in the third inning and two-run shot in the sixth.

In the second game, the Warriors put on a hitting clinic as they scored 11 runs in their first licks as they sent 16 batters to the dish in a 19-6 rout.

Knott broke the career record for home runs later in the game when he hit a pair of two-run homers in the fourth and fifth.

With the home run record now belonging to him, Knott now sees his name atop of five different records for ESU including home runs, triples, extra-base hits, total bases and RBIs.

Email Cory at:

cnidoh@live.esu.edu