KUTZTOWN, PA (April 22, 2010) – The No. 9 ranked Kutztown University baseball team will close out its conference schedule this weekend with the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Eastern Division first place on the line.
The Golden Bears will host Millersville with a doubleheader at North Campus Field beginning at 1 p.m. on Friday and travel to Millersville for another 1 p.m. doubleheader on Saturday. West Chester, who is tied with KU atop the East with 14-6 records, will have home-and-away doubleheaders with Shippensburg.
In the event of a tied conference finishbetween Kutztown and West Chester, the Golden Bears would hold the tiebreaker with a 3-1 head-to-head advantage.
The offense has powered the Golden Bears to wins in 17 of their last 20 contests. Most recently, the Golden Bears have won five of the last six games outscoring their opponents 70-14.
Shayne Houck has been a pitcher's nightmare all season while leading KU in nearly every statistical category. He leads in batting average (.516), runs (60), hits (65), doubles (20), home runs (15) and RBIs (66). Houck's 15 homers and 20 doubles are single season school records and he is only two RBIs from matching Dennis Smeding's 68 set in 2001.
Senior Jared Frey has been another difficult out for KU. He is second on the team in batting average (.451), runs scored (37), hits (51), and RBIs (41).
The pitching staff has been an amazing compliment to the potent offense with Nathan Reed and Adam Maini shutting down the opposition on a daily basis.
Reed was named the PSAC East Pitcher of the Week after firing the Golden Bears first no-hitter since 2004 on Sunday against Bloomsburg. In the gem, he struck out nine batters and lowered his ERA to 2.79. Maini has been a strong asset coming out of the bullpen with a 1.69 ERA and two saves. He has struck out 19 batters in only 16 innings of work.
The Golden Bears will wrap up the regular season with a nonconference contest at home against Philadelphia University at 3:30 p.m. The PSAC Championships are set to begin on Wednesday April 28 in Johnstown, Pa.
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