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Golden Bears set to take on IUP in PSAC second round

JOHNSTOWN, PA (April 28, 2010) – The Kutztown University baseball team will meet the West No. 1 seed Indiana (PA) in the second round in its quest to the first Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) title since 2008. The first pitch is set for 6:30 p.m. at Point Stadium, for live stats of the game click here.

The Golden Bears opened up the tournament with a 12-5 win over Mercyhurst, while Indiana defeated East Stroudsburg 7-3. In the other winner's bracket matchup, West Chester and California (PA) will play at 3:30 p.m.

Indiana (PA) opened up the floodgates early in the contest. In the first inning, the Crimson Hawks used four singles and a hit by pitch to build an early 4-0 lead. An inning later, a pair of singles set up two more runs off of sacrifice fly outs.

The Hawks were paced by right fielder Jamie Smith, who was 2-for-3 at the dish with three runs scored and Vern Powell's two hits and two runs batted in. Paul Bingham has been the season leader with a .469 batting average and his 58 RBIs are second to Kyle Stryker (59).

KU was powered on offense by James Quigley, who went 3-for-4 with a home run and two doubles. Matt Kulbacki and Matt Albaugh each had a pair of RBIs. On the mound, Mike Bucklin pitched four innings of near flawless relieve, allowing just one unearned run.

The Golden Bears went ahead for good on a sharply hit ball by Corey Buletza that the third baseman could not handle. For Buletza, it was a relief to finally get to be contributing for the Golden Bears after missing significant playing time with a leg injury.

Buletza used the final series of the season at Millersville to try and get himself prepared to give a full effort in the PSAC playoffs.

“I tried to comeback too quick and something just didn't feel right,” said Buletza. “It just felt smarter to wait a bit longer and not risk injuring myself anymore.”

As if coming back from injury isn't a daunting enough task for an athlete, Buletza will have a lot of ground to cover in center field at the oddly shaped Point Stadium. With a Fenway Monster-esque fence in left field, the stadium jump to 410 feet in center and 395 in right.

“It's a little nerve racking to cover all of that ground,” said Buletza. “But that is something you can't go out there thinking about, you just have stay focused on playing the game.”

Focus has been something that Buletza and the rest of the Golden Bears have had since the start of the season. The Golden Bears aren't satisfied with just reaching the conference tournament, they want to win the PSAC and regional title. After Wednesday night's victory they moved themselves one step closer to reaching that first goal.
--KU--
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