Box Score 1 | Box Score 2



 
KUTZTOWN, Pa. – A wild and crazy afternoon at North Campus Field came to a close after Kyle Stoudt (Mertztown, PA/Brandywine Heights) (Mertztown, Pa./Brandywine Heights) walked with the bases loaded in the 11th inning to score Shayne Houck (Boyertown, PA/Boyertown) (Boyertown, Pa./Boyertown) and lift the Kutztown University baseball team to a 2-1 victory in the second game of a doubleheader in its home opener against Shippensburg University.  KU also won the first game, 7-0.
 
The Golden Bears (12-3 overall, 2-0 PSAC East) hadn't got a hit since the 7th inning and were looking to create an opportunity with the sun going down.   Hometown-grown Brett Hauck (Kutztown, PA/Kutztown) (Kutztown, Pa./Kutztown) changed that trend with an inning-opening double to left field.  After Houck was walked, freshman Ricky Gorrell (Royersford, PA/Spring-Ford) came to the plate in a pinch-hit scenario simply looking to sacrifice himself and move the winning run to third.  After talking with head coach Chris Blum, Gorrell dropped a bunt down the third base line and legged out an infield single to put the winning run 90 feet away.
 
“I told Ricky that if they all don't rush in at you, you can lay the bunt down here and get a hit out of it,” Blum said.  “If they all rushed in, he knew he had to pull back and slash so they couldn't get the out at third.  He executed well, got himself on base and saved us an out.”
 
Two batters later, Stoudt worked a full count against Shippensburg left hander Austin Bartley and with the bases loaded, the sophomore didn't force the issue.  He took ball four and helped KU sweep the Raiders in the opening day of Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Eastern Division play.
 
The extra inning affair wasn't out of the ordinary between the two schools.  The last time KU went into extra innings on its home field was in the 2010 PSAC East opening weekend against Shippensburg.  KU, however, dropped a 5-3 decision to the Raiders in nine innings.
 
Shippensburg (12-9, 0-2) applied some pressure in the top half of the 11th however.  Houck found himself under fire as Ship hit back to back lasers down the third base line that Houck's diving efforts were unable to stop.  As the saying goes, the third time's the charm, as a third consecutive groundball to third was scooped up by Houck and turned into an inning-ending double play as he stepped on the third base bag for one and tossed it across the diamond to get the second out at first.
 
Before the 11th, KU's pitching held SU without a hit for 5.2 innings.  Sophomore Jason Henderson (Douglassville, PA/Daniel Boone) (Douglassville, Pa./Daniel Boone) turned in a career performance on the mound and picked up his first win of the season.  He surpassed his previous career-high of three innings pitched with 4.2 innings of two-hit ball.  Overall, the KU bullpen pitched 7.2 shutout innings of relief between the two games.  Tom Neely (Philadelphia, PA/Archbishop Ryan) (Philadelphia, Pa./Archbishop Ryan) threw two innings in the nightcap and Colin Holmes (Ewing, NJ/Ewing) (Ewing, NJ/Ewing) threw a scoreless final inning to end the opener.
 
“Our guys did an excellent job of holding their team down,” Blum said of his pitching staff.  “I would like a little less walks and free bases, but overall, they did what we expected of them today.  Jason's our guy at the end of games right now, and I have the utmost confidence in him.”
 
KU's pair of catchers did most of the damage at the plate for the Golden Bears.  The junior duo of Matt Albaugh (Hatfield, PA/North Penn) (Hatfield, Pa./North Penn) and Todd Rubendall (Collegeville, PA/Methacton) (Collegeville, Pa./Methacton) combined for six hits.  Albaugh went 3-for-4 with three RBIs in the first game, as Rubendall matched his teammates' performance with three singles in the second game of the twin bill.  For the season, Albaugh and Rubendall hold the second and third best batting average on the team at .424 and .406, respectively. 
 
Despite its crooked number of seven it scored in the first game, what was intriguing in Friday's play was the lack of extra-base hits.  It took nearly 11 innings for a player of either team to leg out a two-base hit.  With two outs in the fourth inning, Houck laced a double to deep center field and would eventually score the crucial tying run off a Corey Buletza (St. Clair, PA/Pottsville) (St. Clair, Pa./Pottsville) single up the middle. 
 
Despite being the only hit of the day for Houck, the senior was one of the top players to reach base for KU.  In his nine plate appearances, the two-time PSAC East Athlete of the Year was walked three times including a pair of intentional walks.
 
A major reason for the lack of extra-base hits was due to the performance of KU's pair of starting pitchers.  Dominick Ruscitti (Washingtonville, NY/Washingtonville-Newbaugh/Dominican College) (Washingtonville, NY/Newburgh) picked up his team-leading third win of the season in the opener.  He threw 99 pitches in six innings.  The senior started and ended his day with strikeouts as he opened the game with back-to-back strikeouts and with the bases loaded in the sixth inning, he sat down Jimmy Miller looking to close out his day.
 
Holmes relieved Ruscitti in the seventh and struck out the side to earn the win.
 
Junior transfer Damon Valloreo (Vincentown, N.J./Burlington CCC) (Vincentown, NJ/Senaca) didn't allow an earned run in 4.1 innings of work.  He let up three hits and struck out three batters.
 
KU scored all seven of its runs in the first two innings of the first game.  It scored two runs in the first off an RBI single from Albaugh.  The catcher came up clutch again with a two RBI hit up the middle in the second.  Also chipping in RBIs in the inning were Travis Kreitz (Gilbertsville, PA/Boyertown) (Gilbertsville, Pa./Boyertown) and Sean McCormick (West Chester, PA/Henderson) (West Chester, Pa./Henderson). 
 
Current steals leader Cody Montz (Schuylkill Haven, PA/Schuylkill Haven) (Schuylkill Haven, Pa./Schuylkill Haven) added two more on Friday.  He is perfect on all seven of his steal attempts this season after stealing 11 bags in 2011.
 
“Anytime you win two in the PSAC, you're doing ok,” Blum said after the extra inning win.  “This is a tough league and the guys did real well and stayed focused.  Hopefully, they are starting to believe that they can take care of any team.”
 
Kutztown will have a chance at the series sweep tomorrow as it travels to Shippensburg for the second doubleheader.  Game time is set for 1 p.m. and fans can follow all the action via live stats by CLICKING HERE.