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Baseball Tyler Schueck, Sports Information Graduate Assistant

NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS: Golden Bears ready to start title run

DURHAM, N.C. (May 22, 2010) – The first step toward the NCAA Division II National Baseball Championship for the Kutztown University baseball team will start with a battle against the East Region winning Franklin Pierce on Sunday afternoon at 1 p.m. on the USA Baseball National Training Complex.

After a few days of being treated like kings, the Golden Bears (41-13) know that they have to take care of business once they step foot on the field prior to the first pitch.

Junior Jonathan Grosse will take the hill for the Golden Bears in the opener and is ready to make head coach Chris Blum proud of his decision.

“It is a huge honor to get the start in game one,” said Grosse. “It is a dream come true I just want to go out there, throw strikes and give us a chance to win. Our offense is good enough that we will have a good shot to win.”

Ravens' (41-15-1) Jose Macias leads the pitching staff with a microscopic 0.96 earned run average and the opposition is hitting just .164 against him in 84.2 innings pitched. He has a 9-1 record with 110 strikeouts and has only allowed one home run this season. The offense is led by rightfielder Phil Hendricks .366 batting average and 41 runs batted in. He also leads the team with 78 hits and 21 doubles.

Senior Jared Frey, who was part of the 2007 team that went to the national championship in Alabama, knows the excitement that comes along at this stage.

“Everyone now is excited and ready to go,” said Frey. “If you're not ready now, you're not going to get ready. So we just got to hope everyone on the team is down here ready to play with a lot of confidence.”

 The Golden Bears have a lot of reasons to be confident and have unofficial mascot - a Sponge Bob Square Pants bucket - to thank for that.

Mascot
Mertz, Bucklin and Sponge Bob with the Atlantic Region trophy
Trent Mertz found a trick-or-treat bucket with the cartoon star in the mud before a game at Chestnut Hill on March 21. Just days before, the team also felt like their season was stuck in the mud after losing three of four games to Shippensburg to start conference play.

In the superstitious world of baseball, the Golden Bears have since gone 31-7 since the find. In the only game the new dugout fixture missed, KU lost to Philadelphia University.

As the season progressed, Adam Maini gave Sponge Bob a rag of hair in the form of string found inside of a baseball.

Mertz and fellow pitcher Mike Bucklin say the team has always used something to bring the team luck. Last year it was a steering wheel, which got trashed after falling out of the regional tournament. The two agree, although he is not on the roster he is still a member of the team.

This year, Mertz forgot the lucky charm before the biggest game of the season, the regional championship against West Chester. Not to mess with the baseball God's, Mertz personally drove back to the hotel to retrieve Sponge Bob and the rest is history.

With luck on their side and the natural talent surrounded with the squad, KU is ready to show the nation what it has to offer.

"Nothing has changed since we are at the national championship," said Blum. "The guys need to play hard and smart. Emotions will run high, we just have to control it."

The Golden Bears will meet either Southern Indiana or Minnesota State-Mankato in its second game of the double elimination Tuesday either at 3 p.m. or 7 p.m.

Every game of the NCAA Division II Baseball National Championship tournament will be broadcast live on ncaa.com. Fans will have to visit the Interactive Bracket, click on the game and click on the video icon to view the games.
--KU--
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