Box Scores - W 2-1, L 11-6

EAST STROUDSBURG - Sophomore Steve Prazenka pitched East Stroudsburg University to a 2-1 win over Kutztown in the first game of a PSAC East baseball doubleheader on Friday before the Golden Bears came back with an 11-6 victory in the nightcap at Mitterling Field.

Prazenka yielded just three hits and a walk and didn't allow an earned run to lower his conference ERA to 1.17 (23.0 innings, three runs) in four starts this season.

He just missed his second conference shutout of the year when Kutztown managed an unearned run to tie the game at 1-1 in the third, but ESU scored the go-ahead run in the bottom of the sixth and Prazenka induced a game-ending 4-6-3 double play with one out and the tying run on second base in the seventh.

Senior 1B Chris Zsenak gave the Warriors (17-22, 6-8) a 1-0 lead in the first inning with an RBI single that scored junior 2B Chad Schlegel, who reached on an error to lead off the frame against Kutztown starter Philip Rummel (6.0 IP, 0 ER, 7 strikeouts).

Kutztown (19-19, 6-8) pulled even on a double steal in the top of the third, and the score remained deadlocked at 1-1 until the bottom of the sixth. Zsenak reached on a one-out single and scored on a throwing error by the second baseman, who had junior OF Kevin Thompson off the bag following a base hit but threw the ball away.

The Golden Bears had two of their three hits in the game in the top of the seventh before Schlegel and freshman SS Edwin Padua turned the double play to end the game.

In the second game, Kutztown scored seven runs (two earned) off starter Christian Saveri in the first inning and never trailed. Mike Kacelowicz was 4-for-4 with two runs and two RBI and Scott Kacelowicz was 2-for-2 with three RBI, including a two-run double in the first.

ESU scored a pair of runs in the bottom of the first on a single by senior OF Kyle Sheaffer and a double by Thompson. Kutztown added another run in the second on a single by Scott Kacelowicz, which the Warriors got back in the third as junior OF Mike Bortz tripled and scored on a sacrifice fly by Zsenak.

Freshman Tom Admire kept the Warriors in the game, allowing two runs (one earned) in 3.1 innings in relief before giving way to junior Mike Walker (3.0 IP, 2 ER).

Thompson hit a three-run homer, his fourth of the year, to make the score 9-6 in the sixth inning, but the Golden Bears plated a pair of insurance runs with two outs in the seventh and won 11-6.

The schools will conclude the season series on Saturday with two games at Kutztown beginning at 1 p.m.