Baseball | 4/11/2019 4:35:00 PM

 
GAME COVERAGE
• LIVE STATS (FRIDAY - GAME 1)
• LIVE STATS (FRIDAY - GAME 2)
• LIVE STATS (SATURDAY)

RELATED LINKS
• Bloomsburg: Schedule • Roster • Statistics
• East Stroudsburg: Schedule • Roster • Statistics

THE STORY
• The Bloomsburg University baseball team looks to stay hot this weekend as it embarks on a four-game weekend series against the Warriors of East Stroudsburg University in a crucial pair of doubleheaders. The Huskies have won eight of their last ten games to improve to 18-8 overall and 7-5 in the PSAC Eastern Division while the Warriors have won 12 of their last 15 and enter with a 23-9 overall mark and a 9-3 record in the division. East Stroudsburg, ranked fifth in the latest National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCWBA) Atlantic Regional poll, sits in second place in the division while Bloomsburg, sixth in the NCBWA Atlantic Regional poll, is fourth.

SERIES HISTORY
• The series has been quite even between the two teams as the Warriors hold a slim 104-101-4 advantage over the Huskies. Last season, Bloomsburg won three of the four games against East Stroudsburg will all four contests decided by two runs or fewer.

THE HUSKIES AT A GLANCE
• Bloomsburg has won eight of its last ten games and enters the weekend with an 18-8 overall record. The Huskies are fourth in the PSAC Eastern Division with a 7-5 mark and currently hold a two-game lead over Lock Haven for the final postseason spot in the division. Bloomsburg has gone 3-1 in each of the last two weekends against Kutztown and Shippensburg. The Huskies are coming off of a season-high 17 hits in an 11-2 win at St. Thomas Aquinas on Tuesday night to win the season series against the Spartans, 3-2.

• Bloomsburg is tied for 10th in the conference with a .275 team batting average. The Huskies are averaging 6.5 runs per game, aided by their .391 on-base percentage which ranks sixth in the conference. Sophomore Jake Reed (Quakertown, Pa./Quakertown) continues to lead the team in hitting as he sports a .362 average (25-of-69) which puts him 15th in the conference. He ranks second on the team in both hits (25) and on-base percentage (.451) and is third with eight stolen bases. He has also committed only two errors while manning the hot corner. Junior Andrew Holmes (Egg Harbor Township, N.J./Egg Harbor Township) enters with a .323 average (21-of-65). Holmes has four home runs and 19 runs batted in while leading the team with a .483 on-base percentage and a .538 slugging percentage. Holmes is third in home runs and is tied for second in RBI. Junior Cole Swiger (Maple Glen, Pa./Upper Dublin) is hitting .295 (28-of-95) and leads the team in runs (22), hits (28), runs batted in (28), total bases (50), and stolen bases (14). He is also tied for the team lead, with sophomore Kyle OFier (Pittston Township, Pa./Pittston Area), in home runs with six on the season. Swiger and OFier are tied for seventh in the PSAC in long balls. Sophomore Ben Newbert (Bala Cynwyd, Pa./Harriton), after missing the first 17 games of the year, is hitting .321 (9-of-28) with three doubles and four RBI in nine games. Redshirt freshman Carter Chasanov (Magnolia, Del./Polytech) made a triumphant return to the lineup on Tuesday as he racked up four hits against St. Thomas Aquinas and has brought his average up to .299 (20-of-67) with 11 stolen bases.

• Bloomsburg is second in the league in team earned run average at 3.67, trailing only Mercyhurst (2.92) in that department. The Huskies are limiting opponents to a .230 batting average - again second only to Mercyhurst's .190 opponent average. Bloomsburg pitchers have also struck out 229 batters in 196 innings of work. Junior Chad Cooperman (Allentown, Pa./Salisbury) is the reigning PSAC East and NCBWA Atlantic Region Pitcher of the Week after tossing a two-hit shutout at Shippensburg on Sunday. He lowered his season ERA to 2.45 and is limiting opponents to a .164 batting average. He has punched out 42 batters in 33 innings of work. Senior Ashton Raines (Wallingford, Pa./Strath Haven) is 3-1 with a 3.00 ERA and has 29 strikeouts in 33 innings. Junior JJ Spehrley (Pottsville, Pa./Pottsville Area) is also 3-1 and has a 4.02 ERA with 28 strikeouts in 31.1 innings. Freshman Jared Marshman (Berwick, Pa./Berwick) has been the weekday starter for the Huskies and is 3-0 with a 3.38 ERA. The righthander is limiting opponents to a .182 average and has 23 strikeouts in 21.1 innings. Out of the bullpen, seniors Trey Hinkle (Macungie, Pa./Emmaus) and Zach Newmyer (New Cumberland, Pa./Red Land) have been sensational. Hinkle is 2-0 with one save and has not allowed an earned run in eight innings while striking out nine. Newmyer, meanwhile, is 1-1 with a 0.56 ERA and is tied for the PSAC lead with four saves. He has 27 strikeouts in 16 innings of work. Keep an eye on junior Ed Herbener (Drums, Pa./MMI Preparatory School) who, after allowing five runs in his first two innings of the year, has not been scored upon over his last five innings and has struck out nine batters during the stretch.

SCOUTING EAST STROUDSBURG
• East Stroudsburg has won 12 of its last 15 games and enters the weekend with a 23-9 overall record and a 9-3 mark in the PSAC East - good for second place in the division. The Warriors are coming off of a 12-7 victory at LIU Post on Wednesday afternoon and took three of four from then-#18 West Chester last weekend to move ahead of the Golden Rams in the divisional standings.

• The Warriors are fifth in the conference with a .292 team batting average. They lead the conference with 71 doubles and rank second in both slugging percentage (.468) and on-base percentage (.410). Of the team's regular starters, Brock Kauffman leads East Stroudsburg with a .345 batting average (40-of-116) with two home runs and a league-high 35 runs batted in. Carson Freeman is batting .338 (22-of-65) with two home runs and 19 RBI. He leads the team with a .631 slugging percentage. Anthony Torreullas (.301) and Christian Rishel (.300) are also at, or above, .300 on the year. Brainy Rojas leads the Warriors with 22 stolen bases while Joey Paolini leads the team with four home runs. A total of 12 different Warriors have hit at least one home run on the season

• Pitching has also been solid for East Stroudsburg as it ranks sixth in the league with a 4.20 team ERA. The staff is limiting opponents to a .247 opponents batting average and has struck out 258 batters in 250.2 innings while allowing a league-low seven home runs. Nate Fiala has put together a tremendous season to date as he is 3-0 with a 1.25 ERA in nine appearances (seven starts). In 36 innings, he has allowed 20 hits and 13 walks while striking out 40. Justin Guidos is 3-1 with a 1.86 ERA in a team-high 16 appearances out of the bullpen. He has 31 strikeouts in 29 innings. Cam Voss leads the team with 46 strikeouts in only 30 innings and has held opponents to a .154 batting average.

LOOKING AHEAD
• Bloomsburg will head to Slippery Rock on Tuesday, April 16, for a non-conference doubleheader against The Rock with first pitch being thrown at 1:00 p.m. The Huskies will then take on Mansfield University in a four-game weekend series beginning Friday, April 19, at Danny Litwhiler Field. The teams will finish the series on Saturday, April 20, in Mansfield.