SAVANNAH, GA (March 5, 2011) – The Kutztown University baseball team amounted 27 hits while letting up just seven as it poured on the runs in its 26-2 victory over West Liberty University Saturday afternoon at Pirate Field.
Sophomore Todd Rubendall (Collegeville, PA/Methacton) had a career game and helped provide plenty of run support for the Golden Bear pitching staff in their first of six games during their trip to Savannah. Rubendall was 5-for-7 in the leadoff spot Saturday afternoon and knocked in five RBI's, both of which were career highs. He also had a double.
Also having a career game was freshman Anthony Knight (Wayne, PA/Radnor). In just his ninth collegiate game, Knight set career highs by going a perfect 3-for-3 and adding four RBI's, including a double.
Kutztown (6-3 overall) came into Saturday's game ranked 14th in Division II by collegebaseballlineup.com, 28th by Collegiate Baseball, and third in the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) Division II Atlantic Region poll.
Shutting down the Hilltoppers was senior left-hander Jonathan Grosse (Bayport, NY/Bayport-Bluepoint). Grosse threw five innings of one-run ball, earning him his second consecutive win of the season. He struck out six batters while allowing just five hits. Grosse came into Saturday's game leading KU starters with a 1.74 ERA.
Kutztown kept its foot on the throttle throughout the entire game, scoring two or more runs in all but two innings. After already getting out to a 4-0 first inning lead and a 12-1 advantage through six, KU eliminated any chance for a miraculous comeback by West Liberty by putting up a 10-spot in the seventh inning. This is the second time KU has scored 20 or more runs, both of which coming with Grosse on the mound.
Kutztown will face West Liberty again on Wednesday, Mar. 9 at 10:00 a.m.
Five Golden Bears had extra-base hits against WLU. Hitting doubles along with Rubendall and Knight was sophomore catcher Matt Albaugh (Hatfield, PA/North Penn) who came into the game batting .409 (fourth on team), and Shayne Houck (Boyertown, PA/Boyertown) who took a team-leading 14 RBI's on the 12-hour trip down to Georgia. Senior outfielder Mike Dugan (Ocean City, N.J./Ocean City) added a triple for KU.
Gilbert Vega (Lancaster, PA/J.P. McCaskey) also had an impressive outing for the Golden Bears. Vega went 2-for-3 while knocking in three RBI's.
The large lead allowed KU to go into its bullpen in the sixth inning, giving Grosse a much-deserved break and allowing for some young KU pitchers to gain some valuable experience before heading into conference play. Sophomore J.R. Seader (Piscataway, NJ/Piscataway/ Maryland-Baltimore County) provided KU with two innings of scoreless middle relief, while striking out two batters and allowing just one hit. Tom Neely (Philadelphia, PA/Archbishop Ryan) relieved Seader in the eighth and struck out one batter, and freshman Colin Holmes (Ewing, NJ/Ewing) closed out the game for KU allowing one run and adding one strikeout.
Kutztown returns to action tomorrow as it goes up against California (PA) beginning at 12:00 p.m.
--KU--
