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Kutztown-West Chester Series Statistics

KUTZTOWN, Pa. – Records were broken, milestones were achieved, hitting streaks were extended, and walk-off hits were celebrated in a memorable afternoon at North Campus Field on Saturday.  After all the dust settled, but before the rains came, the Kutztown University baseball team split a pair of games with West Chester.  KU took the opener in walk-off fashion, 7-6, and dropped the nightcap 5-3. 
 
Senior Shayne Houck (Boyertown, PA/Boyertown) (Boyertown, Pa./Boyertown) hit a grand slam in the first game that had a lot more meaning than simply cushioning the KU lead.  The four-run bomb elevated Houck to 194 career RBI's, pushing him atop the KU leaderboard.  He surpassed John Rozich's record of 192 set in 1999.  The home run also tied the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) career record of 43.  It was Houck's third grand slam of the season and second in as many days.
 
Houck has had an incredible season as he has broken records in nearly every major offensive category.  Along with homers and RBI's, he is the KU all-time leader in runs scored (209), hits (245), doubles (62), total bases (442) and batting average (.399).
 
“I really haven't thought about it a lot,” Houck commented on the pressures of setting school records.  “I always go out with the mindset of doing what I need to do to help the team win.  Records are meant to be broken and I'm happy I did it, but at the end of the day, the team winning is most important.”
 
The win also held meaning for KU head coach Chris Blum.  The ten-year skipper of the Golden Bears won his 350th game Saturday.  He is the all-time leader at KU and has won 80 more games than any other KU head coach.
 
Now to the action:
 
Sophomore Sean McCormick (West Chester, PA/Henderson) (West Chester, Pa./Henderson) hit a walk-off single in the opener to seal KU's 7-6 victory.  It was a pinch-hit situation for McCormick who brought home Brad Stoudt (Topton, PA/Brandywine Heights) (Topton, Pa./Brandywine Heights) for the winning run. 
 
KU had attempted to win the game a batter before as well.  With Ricky Gorrell (Royersford, PA/Spring-Ford) (Royersford, Pa./Spring-Ford) pinch-running on second base for Matt Albaugh (Hatfield, PA/North Penn) (Hatfield, Pa./North Penn), Corey Buletza (St. Clair, PA/Pottsville) (St. Clair, Pa./Pottsville) hit a single through the right side.  Gorrell attempted to test the arm of the junior right fielder Jack Provine, but he was gunned down at the plate for the second out of the inning.  It was the second time Provine threw a Golden Bear out at the plate.
 
Senior right hander Dominick Ruscitti (Washingtonville, NY/Washingtonville-Newbaugh/Dominican College) (Washingtonville, NY/Washingtonville-Newbaugh) threw six innings on the mound for KU.  He let up four runs off eight hits and struck out three batters with 102 pitches.
 
Kutztown was leading 6-3 heading into the seventh inning as Blum sent Ruscitti back out to face the opening batter.  Ruscitti let up an opening hit in the seventh as his day would come to a close.  West Chester, however, fought back to score three runs in the inning to force the game to continue.
 
Stoudt put KU on the board in the first inning with a two-run single the opposite way to left field.  In the last six games, Stoudt is batting .450 with nine hits.
 
“Especially this weekend, the team has been getting a lot of two-out hits,” Houck said.  “We've been doing some things we hadn't in some of the earlier games of the season, and I think that is probably the biggest thing for us moving forward.
 
Senior Cody Montz (Schuylkill Haven, PA/Schuylkill Haven) (Schuylkill Haven, Pa./Schuylkill Haven) has flourished in the leadoff spot this season for KU.  He opened each game with a single to extend his hitting streak to 15 games.  It is the longest of his career as he nears the school record of 24 games set by Pat Lancianese in 2000.  Montz is currently batting .510 (25-for-49) in his hitting streak.
 
Four Golden Rams had a multi-hit game in the opener.  Matt Baer led the quartet with a 3-for-4 performance and an RBI, as Chris Pula chipped in a team-high three RBI's.
 
Kutztown struck first in the second game with a sacrifice fly from Houck.  Matt Baer answered for West Chester with a two-run homer in the top of the second to give the Golden Rams a lead they wouldn't give up.  Junior catcher Reid Pulford also had an RBI hit in the inning.
 
Jordan Lehman pitched a complete game for WCU.  He let up six hits and struck out five Golden Bears. 
 
Colin Holmes (Ewing, NJ/Ewing) (Ewing, NJ/Ewing) started for KU and threw the first two innings.  Fellow southpaw Damon Valloreo (Vincentown, N.J./Burlington CCC) (Vincentown, NJ/Senaca) took over in the third inning and threw three innings of one-hit ball. 
 
Kutztown returns to action on Monday, Apr. 23 for a non-conference game against Albright at First Energy Stadium in Reading.  Fans planning on making the trip to Reading can purchase tickets at the door on Monday.