THE DETAILS
Bloomsburg (23-13, 15-5 PSAC East) vs. East Stroudsburg (25-12, 11-9 PSAC East)
Friday, April 18  /  Saturday, April 19 – 1 p.m.
East Stroudsburg, PA  /  Bloomsburg, PA
Online Coverage -  Live Stats (Friday)  /  Live Stats (Saturday) 
Gameday Program
Bloomsburg Season Stats  |  ESU Season Stats
 
STORYLINE
The Huskies take a seven-game winning streak to East Stroudsburg for the start of the next-to-last four-game PSAC East series of the season. Bloomsburg enters the weekend in sole possession of first place in the divisional standings, one game ahead of Millersville while East Stroudsburg stands fourth, four games back of Bloomsburg at 11-9. The top four teams from both the Eastern and Western Divisions advance to the PSAC Tournament.
 
SCOUTING EAST STROUDSBURG
The defending PSAC champion Warriors have been trending upward in recent days, rising into the top four in the conference standings. ESU started slow, standing at 6-8 in the PSAC East on April 6 after a four-game split with Lock Haven. Since, the Warriors have gone 5-1 against Mansfield and West Chester to further their bid for a postseason berth. ESU split with West Chester in their last action on Monday, winning game one by an 8-5 score before losing 11-4 in eight innings in the nightcap.

-ESU ranks second in the PSAC in team batting average at .323, behind only Slippery Rock (.333).

-The Warriors have hit 18 home runs on the year, third-most in the PSAC.

-ESU's 240 RBI are most among all conference teams.

-The Warriors rank eighth in team ERA at 4.22 but their 216 strikeouts as a staff are third-most in the PSAC.

-Two Warriors are hitting over .400 for the year – senior catcher Nico Delerme ranks second in the PSAC with a .427 average while reigning PSAC East Athlete of the Week Chris Knott, a senior outfielder, is fourth at .411. Sophomore utility player Matt Walewski (.389) and sophomore second baseman/outfielder Nick Rabasco (.378) also add potent bats in the ESU lineup. Knott leads the team in home runs with six, including four last weekend vs. Mansfield, while Delerme has five.

-Sophomore right-hander Brandon Holup (5-1, 1.67) and sophomore righty Matt Festa (3-1, 4.08) anchor the starting rotation for the Warriors.
 
IN THE RANKINGS
Both Bloomsburg and East Stroudsburg are ranked in the latest National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) Atlantic Region poll – ESU ranks No. 4 while the Huskies are No. 10. Bloomsburg swept No. 3 Shippensburg on Wednesday.
 
SERIES HISTORY
The long series history between schools has been even over the years – as the teams own a 93-93-3 record against each other. The Huskies split a four-game series with ESU last year, but started their turnaround at the end of the year against the Warriors by starting a season-ending winning streak with a sweep at ESU, scoring wins of 5-2 and 10-7 on April 22, 2013. Bloomsburg won 11 of 12 games to finish the 2013 season and has taken that momentum into this spring.
 
HISTORY IN THE MAKING?
The Huskies enter the weekend with a 15-5 record in the PSAC East, the most victories for the school in conference play since 1997. Bloomsburg is just one win away from tying the program record for PSAC wins in a single season, chasing the 16-8 mark put up by the 1997 squad.
 
WIN STREAK NOTES
During the Huskies seven-game winning streak:

-Brian Almand (Haddon Township, NJ/Paul VI) and Corey Baiada (Harleysville/LaSalle) are both batting .500 while Eric Frain (Philadelphia/Archbishop Ryan) is at .480 and Brady West (Harleysville/North Penn) hitting at a .400 clip.

-The Huskies have outscored opponents 45-23.

-Bloomsburg is hitting .424 with runners in scoring position.

-BU has won three one-run games.

-The seven-game winning streak is the longest since winning nine in a row last season. The school record for consecutive wins is 11 from March 26-April 12, 1995.
 
PITCHING CONTINUES TO IMPRESS
The Huskies have been extremely strong on the mound from the outset of this season, owning the lowest team ERA in the entire PSAC (2.77). A key to that success has been Bloomsburg's pitching depth – redshirt freshman Ryuta Amaike (Whitehall/Whitehall) and sophomore Sean McCloskey (Warminster/Archbishop Wood) each picked up their second starts of the year on Wednesday and responded by shutting down regional power Shippensburg. Amaike took a two-hit shutout into the seventh vs. the Raiders before Ship pushed across two unearned runs. McCloskey shut down Shippensburg for a two-hit complete game in the nightcap.

McCloskey (2-1, 1.47), Casey Cooperman (Allentown/Parkland) (4-4, 1.86), Cody Heane (McClure/Indian Valley) (2-1, 1.88, four saves), Amaike (2-0, 2.04), Tyler Hill (Lehighton/Lehighton) (5-2, 2.20) and Eric Geedey (Elverson/Twin Valley) (2-0, 2.25) all have ERAs under 2.50.

Bloomsburg has allowed two or fewer runs to opponents in 18 of 36 games this season.
 
BY THE NUMBERS
.194: The batting average of right-handed batters against Cody Heane (McClure/Indian Valley) this season.

7: Number of Huskies batting .300 or better with more than 50 at-bats with runners on base: Damin Muth (Breinigsville/Parkland) (.490), Nick Mazza (Carbondale/Carbondale) (.361), Corey Baiada (Harleysville/LaSalle) (.360), Tim Ravel (Sinking Spring/Wilson) (.329), Brian Almand (Haddon Township, NJ/Paul VI) (.309), Brad Smith (Morgantown/Twin Valley) (.305) and Eric Frain (Philadelphia/Archbishop Ryan) (.300).

8: PSAC East games remaining on the regular season schedule. Bloomsburg has four games each with ESU and Mansfield.

9-1: The Huskies have won nine of 10 home games this season. Their only loss was a 4-2 setback in eight innings vs. nationally-ranked Millersville on April 5.