WEST LAWN, PA (May 14, 2010) – The Kutztown University baseball team will meet West Virginia State in an elimination game of the NCAA Atlantic Regional for the second straight season on Saturday at 2:30 p.m. on Owls Field at Ted Palka Park. (Tournament Central Page)
At the 2009 regional tournament, the Yellow Jackets handed the Golden Bears both of their defeats and sent them home packing. This will be the fifth matchup in regional play between the two teams over the past five seasons, with the teams splitting 2-2.
Both teams avoided elimination in their second game of the tournament, the Golden Bears (38-13) defeated Mansfield University 9-5, powered by a four run ninth inning. (Full Recap)
The Yellow Jackets (32-15) rode the arm of Ryne Holstine and the bat of Bo Darby to beat California (PA) 7-2 on Friday afternoon.
The Golden Bears have had trouble executing the game plan that has gotten them this far in the season, small ball. As the pitching and defense has gotten stronger at the region tournament level, the Golden Bears have stranded 14 runners in their game against and Cal and 13 against Mansfield.
The offense got a boost from team leader Shayne Houck (Boyertown, PA/Boyertown), who worked out of a funk with a 5 for 5 day at the plate. He had four singles and a game tying 410 foot home run in the eighth inning. Brett Wigder (Trumbull, CT/Trumbull) also got some redemption at the dish. After making the last out with bases loaded on Thursday, Wigder put the Golden Bears up by two runs with a single to center in the top of the ninth.
Much like the Golden Bears first game, the Yellow Jackets offense stumbled in their regional opener. Seton Hill's Bryan Warheit shutout WVSU, allowing only five hits and striking out six for a 6-0 win. Against Cal, Darby was 2 for 4 with four RBI, which included a first inning two run homer and Holstine gave up just two hits in eight innings.
On the season, Josh Bower leads the Yellow Jacket offense with a .407 batting average and 68 runs scored, followed by Joe Jobst who is hitting .352 a clip.
The winner will move to game 10 on Sunday at 1 p.m. to keep the dream of heading to Cary, North Carolina for the College World Series alive. The loser will see their 2010 season draw to an end.
--KU--
