JOHNSTOWN, PA (April 30, 2010) -- The Kutztown University baseball team defeated Indiana University (Pa), 6-2, in a Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) playoff game Friday night at Point Stadium. The Golden Bears rode the strong pitching of Tyler Persun and Jordan Garcia to advance to Saturday's PSAC championship game against California (Pa), a 11-10 winner over Slippery Rock. (Boxscore)
Persun struck out three batters in six innings. Garcia retired nine of the 11 batters he faced to pick up the save for the Golden Bears (37-11 overall).
Mike Kacelowicz had 11 assists, including a threat killing double play and two heads up plays to stop scoring opportunities which helped Persun pick up the win.
“We knew coming into the game that we had to limit the base runners because of their speed,” said Kacelowicz. “It was very important that we not allow any extra base runners and we just needed to play good defense.”
Persun limited the Crimson Hawk lineup, which saw every batter hitting above .300 coming into the game, to just two runs off nine hits. He began the game with three groundouts to Kacelowicz in the first. In his six innings of work, he forced 10 groundouts and struck out three.
“I've always pitched to make the batters hit the ball and get grounders,” said Persun. “I knew that my infielders could handle the plays if I challenged the hitters to put the ball on the ground.”
In the fifth inning, Kacelowicz sniffed out a stealing situation by the speedy Paul Bingham (45 steals on the season) on first and Jamie Smith on third. Kacelowicz met Matt Albaugh's throw to second in front of the bag and immediately fired a strike to James Quigley at third to catch Smith leaning off the base.
An inning later with just a runner on second, Kacelowicz fielded a chopper to his right and flipped to Quigley at third to get the greedy Crimson Hawk base runner.
The Golden Bears provided early run support for Persun, with three in the first and one in the second.
In the opening frame, Shayne Houck singled between walks to Jared Frey and Quigley. Mike Dugan swung at the first pitch he saw and sent a deep fly to right center that went in-and-out of the centerfielders glove, scoring Frey from third. A batter later, Kacelowicz worked a full count and sent a line drive off the wall in left to add two more runs.
“I was struggling a bit at the plate, but I knew I was bound to snap out of any time,” said Kacelowicz. “I just wanted to get something going for the team, I felt that it was my turn to produce.”
With the count in his favor at 3-1, Corey Buletza delivered a home run to left center field to build a 4-0 advantage in the bottom of the second inning. It was the last hit the Golden Bears would record in the game.
“The pitcher left a 3-1 fast ball right over the middle of the plate,” said Buletza. “I knew it was gone once it left the bat.”
The Crimson Hawks were able to push a run across in the top of the fourth, although Persun escaped what could have been a damage ridden inning. Kyle Stryker and Vern Powell led off with singles, before Persun induced a 6-4-3 double play on the next batter to minimize the damage. Frank Sirolli doubled in the first run for IUP, before Kacelowicz made a diving stop to his right and got the runner by a step at first to end the inning.
In the seventh inning, the Crimson Hawk pitcher's lost the strike zone and walked in two runs after five bases on balls.
The Golden Bears will go for their fourth PSAC title in six years on Saturday. The winner of the game will earn an automatic bid to the NCAA regionals.
“We have played good games here and there,” said Kacelowicz. “But we have yet to play a complete game, we have the potential to do great things once we play to our highest level.”
--KU--
