KUTZTOWN, Pa. (March 17, 2011) – The Kutztown University baseball team will open its Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Eastern Division schedule this weekend as it goes up against East Stroudsburg University on Friday, Mar. 18 for a doubleheader scheduled to begin at 1:00 p.m.
The Golden Bears (10-4 overall) will bring a variety of national and regional rankings with them to ESU on Friday. KU is ranked 20th in the latest official NCAA Division II Collegiate Baseball top 30 poll and 10th by College Baseball Lineup. The National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) ranks Kutztown 22nd in the nation and second in the Atlantic Region.
Kutztown has won five of its last six games and bring a two-game winning streak into Friday's doubleheader. It has also won 12 in a row against ESU including a clean four game sweep in 2009 and 2010. The Warriors (12-3) will look to end that streak however and prove their No. 3 ranking in the Atlantic Region as voted on by the NCBWA.
Shayne Houck (Boyertown, PA/Boyertown) has led the Golden Bears in the early going and ranks at the top in numerous statistical categories. Houck ranks second on the team in batting average (.418) and second in RBI's (15). He also leads the team in runs scored (19), hits (23), doubles (8) and total bases (37).
Also batting over .400 are Cody Montz (Schuylkill Haven, PA/Schuylkill Haven) (.462) and Andrew Otterberg (Wall Township, N.J./Wall Township) (.407).
The pitching staff has been an amazing complement to the potent offense KU brings to the plate. Jonathan Grosse (Bayport, NY/Bayport-Bluepoint) heads the Golden Bear staff and has two wins in his three starts this season. He leads the team with 18 strikeouts and holds a 1.76 ERA. Also having two wins on the season is junior Trent Mertz (Kutztown, PA/Kutztown). Mertz has struck out 12 batters in his 10-plus innings of work including a career high eight in KU's win over Concord University.
Kutztown is coming off an impressive 8-3 victory over Penn State Berks on Mar. 16. The non-conference game was scheduled to make up for a cancelled game during KU's spring break trip in hopes of gaining the Golden Bears some extra experience before heading into conference play.
“Our game against Penn State Berks was a great opportunity for the guys to see some live pitching and get some swings in,” said head baseball coach Chris Blum. “We were able to get some of our younger guys some extra playing time and I think it will pay off for us heading into the weekend.”
After this weekend's pair of doubleheaders, Kutztown will host Shippensburg University on Friday Mar. 25 in a doubleheader beginning at 1:00 p.m.
--KU--
