PHILADELPHIA – The Philadelphia University baseball team pounded out a season-best 12 hits in a 15-7 loss to No. 11 East Stroudsburg Wednesday afternoon on Alumni Field.

Right fielder Dan Klusman (Wilmington, Del./St. Elizabeth) carried the offensive load for the Rams going 4-for-4, finished just a double shy of the cycle, and drove in two runs. Christopher Lorenzo (Miami, Fla./Gulliver Prep) added two hits.

Philadelphia (5-13) took advantage of some East Stroudsburg miscues in the second inning to get its offense going and take a 2-0 lead.

With one away, Michael Melendez (Lansdale, Pa./Christopher Dock) struck out on a Joe Cominsky pitch in the dirt and took off for first base after the ball bounced away from catcher Steven Zimmerman. Melendez safely made it to first without a throw to negate what would have been the inning's second out. After a David McTaggart (Wilmington, Del./St. Elizabeth) single and wild pitch to put Rams and second and third, Cominsky balked Melendez home for the game's first run.

Klusman ripped a single to left in his first at-bat of the day to plate McTaggart to double the lead.

With the game tied at two after the Warriors (20-2) scored twice in the top of the third, the Rams reclaimed the lead with three runs in the bottom half of the inning to go up 5-2. Fernando Garza (Laredo, Texas/Alexander) put Philadelphia in front with a one-out single that landed on the right field line.  Two batters later, Melendez came through with a two-run single to center field and put the Rams up three.

Klusman increased the advantage to four with a solo home run to left center field off of Cody Klinger, who just entered the game, in the fourth.

From there, the contest belonged to East Stroudsburg as the Warriors scored at least one run in each of the final five innings, including a five-run eighth, to lead 15-6.

After scoring twice in the fifth and sixth innings to tie the score at six, Christian Rishel kicked off a three-run seventh with a solo home run to put the Warriors in front. In the five-run eighth inning East Stroudsburg had only one hit, a bases-loaded bloop double to center by Robert Bennie. Conner Crookham hit a leadoff home run in the ninth.

Philadelphia scored its final run on a two-hit single to center by Nick Goetz (Danbury, Conn./Danbury).

Bennie was 5-for-6 to lead East Stroudsburg, while Rishel posted three hits.

Klinger settled down over the Klusman home run to go the final six innings, striking out three, and earn the win. Jake Goldberg (Morrisville, Pa./Pennsbury) suffered the loss.

Philadelphia had a four-game weekend series lined up against Lincoln (Pa.) that begins with a home doubleheader on Friday, March 25 at noon.