BLOOMSBURG, Pa. - The Bloomsburg University baseball team opened a crucial four-game series against East Stroudsburg University and swept a doubleheader from the visiting Warriors on Saturday afternoon at Danny Litwhiler Field. The Huskies held on for a 9-8 victory in game one and then completed the sweep with a six-run sixth inning to earn a come-from-behind 7-2 win in the nightcap. Bloomsburg improved to 8-6 overall and 8-6 in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Eastern Division standings, while East Stroudsburg dropped to 10-9 overall and 8-6 in the divisional standings.

Bloomsburg turned to an unlikely hero in game one as redshirt freshman Logan Hile (Winfield, Pa./Selinsgrove Area) entered from the bullpen with runners on first and second and one out in the top of the seventh inning with the Huskies clinging to a one-run lead. After a double steal by the Warriors put runners at second and third, Hile induced a ground ball to third which redshirt sophomore Anthony Viggiano (Wallingford, Pa./Strath Haven) fired home to nail East Stroudsburg pinch-runner Ricky Bromirski at the plate for the second out of the inning. The left-hander then retired Ben Piripavel - who had reached base in all four at-bats to that point - on a flyball to left field that redshirt senior Gianni Sinatore (Whitehall, Pa./Whitehall) caught to end the opener. It was Hile's first collegiate save in just his fourth career outing (one last season).

Redshirt senior Chad Cooperman (Allentown, Pa./Salisbury) got the start on the mound in game one and had some command issues early as the Warriors opened the scoring with a pair of runs in the top of the first to take a 2-0 lead. Cooperman allowed two hits and two walks in the first inning, with Tommy Dunleavy coming through for the visitors with a two-out, two-run single.

The Huskies, however, responded with five runs in the bottom half of the first inning to take a 5-2 advantage as East Stroudsburg starter, Chase Nowak, had command issues of his own. Redshirt junior Carter Chasanov (Magnolia, Del./Polytech) started the rally with a one-out single, advanced to second on a walk to redshirt junior Kyle OFier (Pittston Township, Pa./Pittston Area), and then came in to score Bloomsburg's first run on an RBI single from redshirt junior Jared Burcin (Bethlehem, Pa./Liberty). Viggiano walked to load the bases, followed by a bases-loaded free pass to redshirt junior Ben Newbert (Bala Cynwyd, Pa./Harriton), which tied the game at 2-2. Two batters later, redshirt senior Cole Swiger (Maple Glen, Pa./Upper Dublin) doubled down the left-field line to plate Burcin and Viggiano to give the Huskies a 4-2 lead. Redshirt junior Jake Reed (Quakertown, Pa./Quakertown) followed with an RBI single that plated Newbert for the inning's fifth run.

Cooperman settled in over the next couple of innings, pitching around leadoff singles in both the second and third frames to keep the Huskies' lead at 5-2. Bloomsburg added a run in the bottom of the third to extend the advantage to 6-2. Viggiano reached on a one-out double to center and, after reliever Justin Guidos recorded the second out of the inning, a walk to Sinatore, and an infield single from Swiger loaded the bases. On Guidos' first offering to Reed, the reliever stumbled on the mound and did not deliver the pitch, which allowed Viggiano to trot home on the balk.

East Stroudsburg cut the deficit to 6-4 in the top of the fourth as Tim Haverstick belted a two-run home run off Cooperman, but the Huskies got a run back in the home half of the inning when Burcin plated Chasanov with an RBI groundout. Chasanov had reached on a one-out double and then took third on a passed ball.

The Huskies pushed the lead to 9-4 in the bottom of the fifth as Newbert and Sinatore drilled back-to-back solo home runs to lead off the frame. It was Newbert's first home run of the season and the 17th of his career, while Sinatore's blast was his second of the year and third of his career.

Things, however, got tense for the Huskies in both the sixth and seventh innings as East Stroudsburg had the tying run either at the plate or on base in the final two innings. In the sixth, the Warriors plated two runs against redshirt freshman Nate Baranski (Larksville, Pa./Wyoming Valley West) and had to summon redshirt sophomore Jared Marshman (Berwick, Pa./Berwick) from the bullpen to strike out Carson Freeman with the bases loaded for the final out. Then, in the seventh, East Stroudsburg scored twice against Marshman, but Hile's heroics preserved the Huskies' game-one victory.

Cooperman improved to 3-0 on the season after allowing four runs on eight hits in 4.1 innings. He walked two and struck out six. Nowak lasted only the first inning for the Warriors and suffered the loss as he dropped to 1-2 on the year.

The Huskies had nine hits in game one - two each from Chasanov and Swiger. Chasanov and Viggiano each scored a pair of runs, while Burcin, Newbert, and Swiger each had two RBI in the victory. East Stroudsburg had a dozen hits in game one and left nine runners on base, with six of those coming in the last three innings.

Game two featured a pitching duel between redshirt junior Nick Stoner (Elizabethtown, Pa./Elizabethtown) and his counterpart from East Stroudsburg, Connor Johnson.

The two matched zeros for the first two innings before the Huskies got on the board in the bottom of the third when OFier hit an opposite-field solo home run to left with two outs. The Huskies thought they would grab a 2-0 lead as Burcin hit a fly ball to right field deep enough to get over the fence. However, Freeman reached over the wall and took the potential solo home run away from the Huskies' catcher to keep the score at 1-0.

The round-tripper was OFier's team-leading fifth of the season and the 23rd of his career, tying him with DaminMuth for third on the program's all-time list. OFier now trails only former Major Leaguer Matt Karchner's program record of 37 and Trevor Fetterman's total of 26.

Freeman's home-run-robbing catch looked even more important for the Warriors as they finally broke through against Stoner with a pair of runs in the top of the fourth to take a 2-1 lead. The inning started when Stoner struck out Haverstick, but the third strike ended up at the backstop, which allowed the leadoff runner aboard. Dunleavy followed with a single to put runners at first and second with nobody out before Stoner recorded back-to-back strikeouts to put himself one out away from getting out of the inning. But, Logan Stirr hit a pop-up double into shallow left-center that drove home both runners to give the Warriors their first lead of game two.

Both teams went scoreless until the bottom of the sixth when the Huskies broke through with six runs against the Warriors' bullpen to take a 7-2 advantage. Mike Yates came on in relief of Johnson - who had given up only three hits through five innings - and allowed back-to-back singles to Burcin and Viggiano to lead off the frame. Two batters later, Sinatore walked to load the bases with one out, and East Stroudsburg went back to the pen to call on CJ Gonzales. Gonzales made the pitch he wanted as he got Swiger to hit a ground ball to short but, the ball went right between the shortstop's legs which allowed pinch-runner Brady Gibble (Sinking Spring, Pa./Wilson) and Viggiano to score to give the Huskies a 3-2 advantage. Reed followed with an RBI bunt single and, two batters later, Chasanov ripped an RBI single to push the lead to 5-2. OFier finished off the inning with a two-run single to drive home Chasanov and Reed for the game's final runs.

Hile, the game-one hero, came on in the seventh and retired the Warriors, in order, to complete the sweep.

Stoner was sensational as he improved to 2-1 on the season. He allowed two runs on three hits in six innings, walked two, and struck out a season-high 12 batters - one shy of his career-high of 13 he recorded against Virginia State on February 23, 2020. Johnson matched Stoner through five innings as he allowed one run on three hits with four walks and five strikeouts. The Huskies then scored six runs on five hits, a walk, and an error in the sixth after Johnson was taken out of the ballgame.

OFier went 3-for-4 with a home run and three RBI in game two. Chasanov added two hits as the Huskies out-hit the Warriors, 8-3, in the nightcap.

The two teams will conclude the four-game series on Monday afternoon, April 5, in East Stroudsburg. First pitch of game one is scheduled for noon.