Box Score KUTZTOWN, Pa. – Kutztown's
Shayne Houck (Boyertown, PA/Boyertown) (Boyertown, Pa./Boyertown) went 4-for-5 and tied the Golden Bears' all-time record for doubles as KU downed Felician 10-7 in non-conference baseball action.
Box Score
The senior third baseman was just a homer shy of the cycle and drove in three runs. His first inning double was the 54th of his career, tying the Mike Kacelowicz's total set from 2007-10.
That hit was also part of a five-run first inning for Kutztown (15-4) and knocked in
Cody Montz (Schuylkill Haven, PA/Schuylkill Haven) (Schuylkill Haven, Pa./Schuylkill Haven) for KU's first run of the afternoon.
Travis Kreitz (Gilbertsville, PA/Boyertown) (Gilbertsville, Pa./Boyertown) reached on an error by the shortstop and knocked in
Brett Hauck (Kutztown, PA/Kutztown) (Kutztown, Pa./Kutztown), who was hit by a pitch earlier in the frame, for a 2-0 lead with no outs. The next batter,
Corey Buletza (St. Clair, PA/Pottsville) (St. Clair, Pa./Pottsville) stroked a single to left to drive in Houck. After a sacrifice bunt by
Todd Rubendall (Collegeville, PA/Methacton) (Collegeville, Pa./Methacton) moved Buletza and Kreitz into scoring position,
Andrew Otterberg (Wall Township, N.J./Wall Township) (Wall Township, N.J./Wall Township) made it 4-0 with an RBI groundout to second.
Brandon Hickey (Mountville, PA/Hempfield) (Mountville, Pa./Hempfield) made it a five run advantage for the Golden Bears with a two-out single that brought home Buletza.
Five of the Golden Falcons' (9-13) first six batters of the second inning reached via a walk or hit by pitch to cut it to 5-2 with one out. A third run scored on a sacrifice fly by Gary Lavoie, before an RBI double by Jimmy Simpson cut it to 5-4 after the top of the second.
The Golden Falcons tied it up in the third when Mike Farrell led off the inning with a double and scored on a single by Kevin Whitehead.
Kutztown recaptured the lead in the fourth on the first of Montz's two go-ahead hits in the game. Hickey walked to lead off the inning and was bunted over by
Gilbert Vega (Lancaster, PA/J.P. McCaskey) (Lancaster, Pa./J.P. McCaskey) before Montz hit a shot a left to bring him home for a 6-5 lead.
Felician tied it up again in the sixth when Whitehead doubled and later scored on a groundout by Korey McGuiness.
Montz struck again in the bottom half of the inning. With two out, he doubled to right to score pinch hitter
Sean McCormick (West Chester, PA/Henderson) (West Chester, Pa./Henderson) for a 7-6 lead. He then scored on a Hauck single to center field. Houck followed with an RBI single of his own to make it 9-6 in favor of the Golden Bears through six full innings.
In the bottom of the eighth, Houck ripped a shot deep into left center field for a run scoring triple as Hauck scored on the play.
The Golden Falcons got one run back in the top of the ninth before
Jason Henderson (Douglassville, PA/Daniel Boone) (Douglassville, Pa./Daniel Boone) closed the door.
Kutztown's bullpen continued its strong performance this season, going six innings and allowing just one earned run on five hits and two walks, striking out four.
Tom Neely (Philadelphia, PA/Archbishop Ryan) (Philadelphia, Pa./Archbishop Ryan), the third of five Golden Bears to pitch, threw two innings for the win. He struck out two and allowed one run on two hits.
Billy Felo (Dauphin, PA/Central Dauphin/Chesapeake College) (Dauphin, Pa./Central Dauphin) tossed two scoreless frames earlier and
Connor Wing (West Chester, PA/Unionville) (West Chester, Pa./Unionville) pitched a shutout eighth.
Offensively, Montz went 2-for-4 with two RBIs and scored twice. Hauck scored three runs and had two hits in the contest.
Whitehead and Mickey Zudonyi each had two hits for Felician.
After KU touched up Jerry Vasto for five runs in the first, Chet Godfrey tossed four strong innings for the Golden Falcons. He allowed just two hits and a run, walked one and struck out four. Jack Fowler relieved Godfrey and allowed three sixth inning runs to take the loss.
Houck's first inning double gave the senior at least a share of four KU career marks, as he is already the Golden Bears' all-time leader in runs, home runs and total bases.
Kutztown takes on Bloomsburg in a four-game Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference series on March 23-24. The Golden Bears travel to Bloomsburg on Friday, with the Huskies making the return trip the following day.
