Skip To Main Content
Skip To Main Content

Kutztown University Athletics

KUBears.com The Official Site of Kutztown University Athletics

Scoreboard

Kulbacki_PSAC

Baseball Tyler Schueck, Sports Information Graduate Assistant

Golden Bears rally late to down Mercyhurst in first round of PSAC tournament

JOHNSTOWN, PA (April 28, 2010) - The Kutztown University baseball team was powered by a seven run seventh-inning to defeat Mercyhurst 12-5 in the first round of the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) tournament at Point Stadium in Johnstown. (Boxscore) (Photo Gallery)

The Golden Bears, No. 2 seed in the East, trailed 5-4 heading into the seventh inning. KU kept to its game plan. It finally paid off with the Golden Bears putting the ball in play, getting timely hitting and making the defense work. In the inning, the Lakers committed three costly errors and the Golden Bears punched out four hits to gain an 11-5 edge.

Corey Buletza broke the five-all tie with a sharp grounder that the third baseman couldn't handle. Matt Kulbacki followed with a scorcher down the left field line to plate two runners and blow the game open. Matt Albaugh ripped a pinch-hit single through the left side of the infield to add two more runs.

The Golden Bears capped off the scoring with a run in the eighth. For the second straight inning, Shayne Houck was on first base and James Quigley smashed a ball deep into the right field gap to put runners on second and third. Mike Dugan grounded a chopper to third to score Houck.

Quigley showed power all day to the opposite field. In addition to his two doubles, he drove an outside pitch around the foul pole in right for a second inning home run and tying the game at 1-1.

"I felt that it got our team going a bit," said Quigley. "It was good to respond to their run in the top half and let them know that we came to play."

Mercyhurst, third seed in the West, came right back with a three-run home run by Adam Gray in the third inning. The always resilient Golden Bears chipped away at the lead though, taking advantage of numerous defensive miscues.

In the bottom of the third Mike Kacelowicz drew a walk, took second and third on two separate wild pitches. He then scored on a groundout to first by Houck.

Dugan drew a walk and Buletza doubled to right field to start off the fourth, but the Lakers looked to escape unharmed after back-to-back strikeouts. With two down, Brett Wigder smoked a one hopper through the legs of the first baseman to knot the game, 4-4. Of the 12 runs the Golden Bears scored, only four were earned.

Mike Bucklin had his best outing of the season with four impressive innings of relief, squashing any chance of a comeback. He allowed only one unearned run and struck out four.

“I went out there trying to throw strikes and let my defense make the plays,” said Bucklin. “I tried to limit my pitches so I could come back to pitch as soon as possible. To come out and win the opener was a confidence boost for the whole team.”

Jonathan Grosse got the start on the mound for the Golden Bears, surrendering four runs - three earned - and striking out three. He worked out of a first inning jam with runners on second and third by forcing a lazy fly to left.

“We didn't play to well through the first five innings,” said head coach Chris Blum. “But the guys battled back like they always do. Bucklin came in and was great for us. To win this tournament, we need to improve in all aspects of the game, much like we did in the final few innings.”

In other action, California (West No. 2) defeated Mansfield (East No. 3) by a score of 6-5 and West Chester (East No. 1) were 7-6 winners over Slippery Rock (West No. 4).

The Golden Bears will take on West No. 1 seed Indiana, Pa., a 7-3 winner over East Stroudsburg on Thursday April 29 with first pitch set for 6:30 p.m. For the full tournament schedule, click here.

--KU--

Print Friendly Version

Sponsors