KUTZTOWN, Pa. (March 15, 2011) – Coming off its five game spring break trip in Savannah, Ga., the Kutztown University baseball team returns home ranked 22nd in the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) national top 25 poll. (COMPLETE RANKINGS)
The Golden Bears moved up two positions in the unofficial poll since last week's rankings. KU also remains second in the NCBWA Atlantic Region top 10 poll but have made a strong push forward, splitting first place votes with top team Mercyhurst. Rounding out the top five in the region behind Mercyhurst and KU are East Stroudsburg, West Virginia State and West Chester.
KU (9-4 overall) won four of its five games in Savannah and experienced a great deal of growth as a team during its trip down South. It tallied nine or more hits in every game including a 30-hit outburst in a 26-2 defeat over West Liberty University.
One of the more dramatic victories Kutztown may have throughout the entire season was a 4-3 victory against Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) foe California (PA). After being down one run in the ninth, sophomore Andrew Otterberg (Wall Township, N.J./Wall Township) hit a two run homer to give KU a one run lead and earn the sweet taste of revenge against the defending conference champions. Cal also topped KU in last year's Atlantic Regionals, so gaining an early advantage against a top in-conference team should help the Golden Bears should these two teams meet again in the postseason.
The Golden Bear pitching staff has shown some true dominance in their opening games of the season. Senior Jonathan Grosse (Bayport, NY/Bayport-Bluepoint) has proven to be the ace of this year's staff, earning wins in two of his three starts and holding a 1.74 ERA which leads all KU starters. His top game of the year was a two-hit, seven strikeout performance in the season opener against Barton College. Grosse has gone at least five innings and allowed just one run in each of his games. He currently leads the team with 18 strikeouts.
Joining Grosse with multiple wins this season is junior Trent Mertz (Kutztown, PA/Kutztown). Mertz struck out a career-high eight batters in KU's 6-3 win over Concord while walking just one. This was Mertz's first start of the season as he threw six innings in his longest outing since 2009. He also earned a win in relief in a 12-8 victory over the Apprentice School.
Kutztown's bullpen has also shown promise early in the season. Five full-time Golden Bear bullpen pitchers currently hold a 3.00 or less ERA. Jordan Garcia (Mount Carmel, PA/Fleetwood) has not allowed an earned run in his five innings of work this season. Jacob Schnee (Saylorsburg/Pleasant Valley) has seen the most time on the mound for KU, throwing eight innings in six games. He has struck out eight batters and holds a 1.12 ERA. Also chipping in has been Tom Neely (Philadelphia, PA/Archbishop Ryan) (2.45 ERA in four games), Dominick Ruscitti (Washingtonville, NY/Washingtonville-Newbaugh/Dominican College) (2.57 ERA in three games) and freshman Colin Holmes (Ewing, NJ/Ewing) (3.00 ERA in three games). Garcia and Holmes each have a save as well.
As great as the pitching has been early in the season, it is tough to overlook the outstanding numbers the Golden Bear bats have put up as well. Eleven Golden Bears are batting over .300 through their first 13 games, eight of which have reached double figures in hits.
Shayne Houck (Boyertown, PA/Boyertown) leads the team in hits (21), runs scored (19), doubles (8), home runs (2) and RBI's (15). He is also third on the team in batting average (.404). Houck's top game of the year was a 3-for-6 performance against the Apprentice School where he had seven RBI's. He had two home runs including a game-winning grand slam in the tenth inning to give Kutztown a 12-8 victory.
Also cashing in at the plate have been James Quigley (Bensalem, PA/Bensalem) and Mike Dugan (Ocean City, N.J./Ocean City). Both seniors have 11 RBI's which ranks third on the team. Quigley is second on the team in hits (18) and runs scored (17), and has one home run while batting.353. Dugan ranks right behind Quigley in hits (17) and runs scored (15), and has also used his speed to help give Kutztown an advantage on the base paths. He currently leads the team with two triples and four steals on the season.
Proving to be dual threat for KU has been freshman Kyle Stoudt (Mertztown, PA/Brandywine Heights). Not only is Stoudt batting .395 and second on the team with 13 RBI's, he has started two games on the mound for KU and holds a 1.80 ERA. Stoudt batted .556 over the last five games and earned a win on the mound in KU's 11-5 victory over West Liberty. He went six innings while allowing just one earned run off seven hits. He also struck out one batter.
Kutztown will take the short trip to Reading on Wednesday to face Penn-State Berks beginning at 3:30 p.m.
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