KUTZTOWN, Pa. – The Kutztown University baseball team is set to conclude its regular season with quite a vigorous schedule.  KU will play seven games in the next five days in helping determine its seeding in both the conference and Atlantic Region.
 
The Golden Bears (28-14 overall, 11-9 PSAC East) open the beginning of their weekend on Thursday, Apr. 26 with a home non-conference doubleheader against Philadelphia University beginning at 2 p.m.  KU will then travel to Mansfield University for a Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) contest on Friday, Apr. 27 beginning at 1 p.m.  Mansfield makes the trip to North Campus Field on Saturday as the weekend will wrap up on Monday, Apr. 30 at First Energy Stadium against Albright College at 6:35 p.m.

KU will also enter the weekend rated third in the latest NCAA Atlantic Regional poll.
 
Saturday's doubleheader against Mansfield will mark Senior Day for seven members of the baseball team.  Corey Buletza (St. Clair, PA/Pottsville), Shayne Houck (Boyertown, PA/Boyertown), Trent Mertz (Kutztown, PA/Kutztown), Cody Montz (Schuylkill Haven, PA/Schuylkill Haven), Andrew Otterberg (Wall Township, N.J./Wall Township), Dominick Ruscitti (Washingtonville, NY/Washingtonville-Newbaugh/Dominican College), and Brad Stoudt (Topton, PA/Brandywine Heights) will all be honored before the opening game.
 
Below is a highlight of each senior's accolades in their time at Kutztown:
 
Corey Buletza (St. Clair, PA/Pottsville) (St. Clair, Pa./Pottsville)
 
Buletza has had a storied career in his time in the maroon-and-gold.  He has started in 167 of his 177 games played over five years.  After returning from a season-ending injury early last season, the St. Clair native is having a career-best senior campaign.  He is batting .292 with 23 RBI's and a pair of home runs.  For his career, Buletza is a .288 hitter with 176 hits and 98 RBI's. He has also stolen 39 bases.
 
One of Buletza's top moments at KU came in the 2010 NCAA Division II Atlantic Region tournament.  In the championship game against West Chester, Buletza hit a grand slam to help KU advance to the NCAA Division II College World Series.  Buletza is a Business Administration major and will graduate in May.
 
Shayne Houck (Boyertown, PA/Boyertown) (Boyertown, Pa./Boyertown)
 
Over the past four years, Houck has etched his name as one of the all-time greats in school-history.  For his career, he holds KU records with 209 runs scored, 245 hits, 195 RBI's, 62 doubles, 43 home runs and a .399 batting average.  He is also the PSAC all-time leader in runs scored and home runs.
 
The Boyertown native has had 13 games of four or more RBIs including a career-best eight against Apprentice on Feb. 19, 2010 in which he hit two home runs.  He had three home runs on Apr. 1, 2010 against Bloomfield and has six multi-home run games in his career.
 
Houck opened his book of accolades with the PSAC East Rookie of the Year award his freshman year.  He is a two-time and reigning PSAC East Athlete of the Year.  Houck earned the ABCA/Rawlings Atlantic Region Player of the Year in 2010.  He's been a first team all-region player the last two seasons as well as earning All-American honors his sophomore season.  He will graduate in December with a degree in Sport Management.
 
Trent Mertz (Kutztown, PA/Kutztown) (Kutztown, Pa./Kutztown)
 
Mertz is a hometown native and has spent the last five years in the maroon-and-gold.  He has pitched in 54 games and started in 22.  He holds an 11-10 record on the mound with a 4.67 ERA and 128 strikeouts.  He has three complete games to his credit and has saved four games in his 154.1 career innings.
 
He had a career-best 11 strikeouts against East Stroudsburg on Mar. 19, 2011.
 
The right hander has an even 3-3 record in 2012.  He is tied for third on the team with 29 strikeouts.  In 39 innings, Mertz has a 3.92 ERA as well as a complete game against Bloomsburg on Mar. 25.  He was a Dean's List recipient seven times, including two 4.0 semesters, and was named to the PSAC All-Academic team three times.  Mertz is a Business Administration major and will graduate in May.
 
Cody Montz (Schuylkill Haven, PA/Schuylkill Haven) (Schuylkill Haven, Pa./Schuylkill Haven)
 
Montz is a four-year member of the Golden Bears and is a career .348 hitter.  He has played in 133 games and has tallied 119 hits.  He has scored 90 runs and is an impressive 33-for-37 in stolen base attempts including a perfect 16-for-16 this season.  He has knocked in 55 RBIs with 12 doubles and three home runs. 
 
Montz was also a Daktronics All-Atlantic Region First Team member in 2011.  One of his finest memories at KU came in the PSAC title game in 2010 where he hit a two-out RBI single to tie the game in the top of the ninth inning.   
 
The Schuylkill Haven product is currently riding a career-best 15-game hitting streak in which he is hitting .510 at the plate.  For the season, he leads KU in batting (.383).  He has a team-best 51 hits and is tied for fourth on the team with 22 RBIs.  Montz is a Criminal Justice major and will graduate in December.      
 
Andrew Otterberg (Wall Township, N.J./Wall Township) (Wall Township, N.J./Wall Township)
 
Otterberg joined the Golden Bears in 2010.  He has played in 72 games and started in 41.  He holds a .277 batting average in 155 at-bats with 43 hits and 21 RBIs.  He has also scored 36 runs and hit three home runs.
 
The outfielder had a crucial at-bat against California (Pa.) last season.  He had the game-winning two run homer in KU's 4-3 comeback victory against Cal on Mar. 6, 2011.
 
This season, Otterberg is batting .268 in 27 games.  He has 15 hits with seven RBIs and a .438 on base percentage.  The Wall Township, N.J. native will graduate in May with a degree in Leisure and Sport Studies. 
 
Dominick Ruscitti (Washingtonville, NY/Washingtonville-Newbaugh/Dominican College) (Washingtonville, N.Y./Washingtonville-Newbaugh)
 
Ruscitti transferred to Kutztown from Dominican College for the 2011 season.  He spent his junior year in the bullpen for KU.  He held an impressive 1.65 ERA in 16.1 innings with three saves.  This season, Ruscitti has been KU's top starter.  He is 5-2 on the mound in nine starts with a team-best 33 strikeouts. 
 
The right hander tossed a complete game shutout at Bloomsburg on Mar. 23 with a KU career-best seven strikeouts.  It was in the middle of a three game, 19 inning stretch in which Ruscitti did not allow a run.  The Washingtonville, N.Y. native is a Speech Communications major and Advertising minor and will graduate in May.
 
Brad Stoudt (Topton, PA/Brandywine Heights) (Topton, Pa./Brandywine Heights)
 
Stoudt is a four year member of Golden Bears and has improved every year.  In 119 games, he's batting .307 with 85 hits and 57 RBIs.  He's also slugging .437 with 12 doubles, six triples, and four home runs.  Stoudt has stolen 20 bases in 24 attempts.
 
The outfielder has had two 3-for-3 performances at the plate this season.  He also tied his career-best three RBIs this season against East Stroudsburg on Apr. 14.
 
Since April 13th's games against East Stroudsburg, Stoudt is batting .469 with 15 hits and 12 RBIs.  For the season, he is hitting a career-best .348 with four doubles and a .517 slugging percentage.  Stoudt is a Business Administration major and will graduate in May.