The two games were filled with excitement, but were on opposite ends of the emotional spectrum.

With one out, runners on first and second base head coach Chris Blum went to the bullpen. His selection was left-handed sophomore Jordan Garcia, who would be facing not only his former teammates, but his older brother as well.

“It was the first time that we have ever pitched against each other in a game that counted,” said Mansfield's Justin Garcia. “It was exhilarating and upped the competition level a little. The way he pitches, I knew it was going to be tough for our team to get anything going against him.”

With their parents and sister in attendance, the Garcia family had plenty to root for from the performances put on.

Jordan Garcia (Mount Carmel, PA/Fleetwood) halted the Mountaineers comeback efforts with a groundout and strike out to strand two runners in scoring position, maintaining a 4-2 lead.

“I was anxious and excited, it felt amazing to go out there in that situation,” said Garcia. “I knew that my team would be behind me and I wanted to pitch good for them.”

He then finished off the final three innings to earn the win, allowing only two hits and striking out three. He credits his scouting report he collected while playing with the Mountaineers last season.

“Facing a team that I had a history with gave me an edge on knowing what to pitch,” said Garcia. “I went in focused and knew what I had to do.”

“It was just a coincidence that Jordan got to pitch against his brother,” said Blum. “We knew that he was going to effective against their lefty batters.”

The Golden Bear offense provided early run support with two runs in each of the first two innings. Mike Dugan was 2-for-3 with an RBI double, while Mike Kacelowicz and James Quigley each knocked in a run.

The nightcap strayed from the family atmosphere in the opener as the intensity levels were raised. Following a Brad Stoudt single to lead off the second inning, the umpires deemed his bat illegal and Stoudt was called out. From that point on, each team spent the rest of the game in front of the dugout and were vocal on every play.

It was further reviewed by the umpires  following the game and found that the bat was in fact legal.

“It stirred the pot a little,” said Blum. “We needed something to get some energy and it definitely got us going.”

The Golden Bears came roaring back after trailing 3-0 in the bottom of the fourth. Shayne Houck ripped a single to left, Quigley drew a walk and Dugan moved each runner up with a sacrifice bunt. Stoudt came to the plate and smashed a liner to right to score Houck.Jeff Kistle dropped a safety squeeze to score Quigley and Matt Albaugh doubled in Stoudt to tie the contest.

Starting pitcher Jonathan Grosse gave up a single to start off the top of the fifth. But he got a pop out to the catcher on a sacrifice attempt and forced a 4-6-3 double play to end the inning and keep the momentum in favor of KU.

Houck again got the offense rolling with a two out single to right. After a Quigley walk, Dugan sent a shot to right center and scored two. Stoudt then peppered a line drive up the middle to score Dugan and prove at that point he could get a hit with any bat.

“The illegal bat incident motivated the whole team,” said Stoudt. “Before that happened we were kind of just floating around but afterwards we were into it. I was excited to start the day with a hit after having a rough game yesterday. Then they took the hit away, it was just kind of the story of the weekend for me.”

The Golden Bears will take a break from PSAC East play with three straight non-conference contests beginning with Bloomfield College on Thursday at 3 p.m. on North Campus Field. 

--KU--