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KUTZTOWN, Pa. – The Kutztown University baseball team has earned its tenth trip to the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Championship tournament in the past 11 years this season and will begin its final journey to a conference championship on Wednesday, May 2 against Gannon University beginning at 9:30 a.m. in Butler, Pa. at Pullman Park.
 
Tickets for KU's opening game can be purchased on game day at Pullman Park.  Adult tickets are $7, students and children are $2, and admission is free for all students of PSAC member institutions.
 
The Golden Bears (32-15) finished 14-10 in PSAC Eastern Division play to earn the third seed in the tournament.  It has won five PSAC titles with the most recent coming in 2008.  Gannon (25-21) is the second seed in the West and will be making its first postseason appearance since 1970 after securing its first winning season since 1985.  The two teams have never met.
 
The winner of the eight-team PSAC tournament will receive an automatic bid to the NCAA Atlantic Regional Tournament when the pairings are announced on Sunday, May 6.  KU enters the tournament rated third in the latest NCAA Atlantic Regional poll.
 
Senior Shayne Houck (Boyertown, PA/Boyertown) (Boyertown, Pa./Boyertown) enters the tournament as one of KU's most productive hitters.  While batting .350 at the plate, Houck leads the team with 49 hits and 46 RBIs with 13 doubles and nine home runs.  He has grown into one of the PSAC's greatest hitters as he is the all-time conference leader in runs scored (212) and home runs (44).  He also needs one RBI for 200 in his career.
 
Fellow senior Cody Montz (Schuylkill Haven, PA/Schuylkill Haven) (Schuylkill Haven, Pa./Schuylkill Haven) holds the team's best average at the plate at .372.  He has a team and career-high 55 hits with 23 RBIs and a .456 on-base percentage.  The leadoff hitter is KU's most potent base runner with a perfect 18-for-18 in stolen base attempts this season.  Montz has a team-high 16 multi-hit games and carried a career-high 15-game hitting streak during the season.

Right hander Dominick Ruscitti (Washingtonville, NY/Washingtonville-Newbaugh/Dominican College) (Washingtonville, N.Y./Washingtonville-Newbaugh) is expected to start the opening game on the mound for the Golden Bears.  He has six victories in ten starts with a 2.54 ERA in 56.2 innings.  He has a team-high 39 strikeouts while holding opposing hitters to a .218 average.  In PSAC East play, the senior has a team-best 1.80 ERA with a 4-1 record.   He is coming off nine scoreless innings against Mansfield on Friday that earned him this week's PSAC East Pitcher of the Week.
 
Also flourishing on the mound in conference play down the stretch has been junior southpaw Tom Neely (Philadelphia, PA/Archbishop Ryan) (Philadelphia, Pa./Archbishop Ryan).  In his three starts in conference play, Neely has allowed just two runs in 13 innings.  He holds a 1.71 ERA on the year and shares the team-lead with Ruscitti with six wins.
 
Sophomore Jason Henderson (Douglassville, PA/Daniel Boone) (Douglassville, Pa./Daniel Boone) has six saves as the Golden Bear closer.  In 16 appearances, the right hander has a 3:1 strikeout-to-walk ratio with 30 strikeouts.  Billy Felo (Dauphin, PA/Central Dauphin/Chesapeake College) (Dauphin, Pa./Dauphin) (1.12 ERA), Connor Wing (West Chester, PA/Unionville) (West Chester/Unionville) (1.63), and Kyle Stoudt (Mertztown, PA/Brandywine Heights) (Topton, Pa./Brandywine Heights) (1.93) have also been tremendous contributors out of the bullpen this season.
 
Brad Stoudt (Topton, PA/Brandywine Heights) (Topton, Pa./Brandywine Heights) was KU's leading hitter in conference games this season at .390.  It helped raise his career-best season average to .350 with a slugging percentage of .515.  The left-hander has legged out four doubles, five triples, and a home run.  He has also stolen ten bases.
 
Junior catcher Matt Albaugh (Hatfield, PA/North Penn) (Hatfield, Pa./North Penn) is batting .354 and is second on the team with 25 RBIs.  Senior Corey Buletza (St. Clair, PA/Pottsville) (St. Clair, Pa./Pottsville) is fourth on the team with 24 RBIs and needs one for 100 in his career.
 
Gannon's top hitter at the plate has been junior outfielder Michael Tomko.  He's batting .344 at the plate with 42 RBIs and 53 hits including nine doubles, six triples and six home runs.  Also batting over .300 in the everyday lineup is Evan Baglieri (.308) and Tim Lipp (.302).  All three players have started in the team's 46 games.
 
KU can expect to see senior right hander Paul McKenna on the mound for the Golden Knights.  He has thrown eight complete games in ten starts this year while holding a 3.21 ERA.  He is 7-4 in his team-high 67.1 innings and has 54 strikeouts.  Landon Wahl has five saves with a 4.06 ERA in the backend of the rotation.
 
The winner of the KU-GU matchup will move on to play the winner of the West Chester-Slippery Rock game at 3:30 p.m. on Thursday, May 3.  The losers of the two games will meet at 9:30 a.m. on May 3 for an elimination game of the double elimination tournament.