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Kutztown celebrates its sixth consecutive Builder Invitational title.

Baseball

Golden Bears hold off Bloomsburg for sixth straight Builder Invite title

HAMPTON, VA (February 21, 2010) - The Kutztown University baseball team staved off a late comeback bid by Bloomsburg University for an 11-10 victory to earn its sixth consecutive Builder Invitational title on Sunday afternoon. Boxscore

In addition to six straight titles, the Golden Bears have won the 10 of the past 13 tournaments. The past two seasons KU has swept all five of its games and have not lost at the Builder Invitational dating back to an 11-10 loss to the Apprentice School on February 23, 2008.

The Golden Bears and Huskies met in the championship less than 24 hours after battling in the final round robin game with KU winning 16-6 on Saturday night.

KU sent 11 batters to the plate and scored six times in the sixth inning to build a 10-3 lead. Todd Rubendall was hit by a pitch and advanced to second on Cody Montz's fielder's choice. After Corey Buletza loaded the bases with a walk, Mike Kacelowicz drove a single to right for two of his three runs batted in.

Two batters later, James Quigley drilled a single to left to plate Buletza and Kacelowicz. Jared Frey picked up an RBI on a fielder's choice and Quigley eventually scored on a wild pitch to cap the scoring.

In the eighth inning, Brandon Shurr had a pinch hit RBI single up the middle, scoring Jeff Kistle in what proved to be the winning margin.

"I was happy with the way we played this weekend," said head coach Chris Blum. "Our offense did a heck of a job and our defense played well."

The Huskies would not go away quietly though, turning an 11-3 deficit into a 11-10 thriller in the top of ninth. The first eight batters reached base safely with a single, three walks and then a string of four straight singles.

Second baseman Joe Ianiero knocked in two runs with a single, followed by Chris Tressler's single up the middle that plated two more.

Trent Mertz stopped the bleeding, forcing a foul fly before an RBI single by Jerry Lloyd added the Huskies final run. Lloyd was a tough out all day, going 3-for-4 with three runs scored. Mertz kept his composure and struck out the next two batters, allowing the Golden Bears to celebrate their win.

"In that last inning I was pleased with how Trent handled himself," said Blum. "He fought through some jams and I'm proud of him. Our pitching staff throughout the weekend was nervous and a bit rusty, but they all worked hard and battled."

Mertz had four strike outs pitching the final four innings. Ryan Cassidy took the hill for the first five innings, allowing only one run and striking out two to earn the win.

Kacelowicz finished the day with two hits, three RBIs and scored two runs, while Buletza scored three times and stole two bases. Mike Dugan collected two hits and had a sacrifice fly to right in a three run third inning.

The Golden Bears will have off until March 6 when they travel to Shaw University for a double header to start off spring break.
--KU--
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