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BUTLER, Pa. – Tom Neely (Philadelphia, PA/Archbishop Ryan) (Philadelphia, Pa./Archbishop Ryan) of the Kutztown University baseball team held Gannon University in check all game as the junior left hander had a career-outing on the mound Wednesday morning.  KU defeated GU, 5-4, in the opening round of the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Championships at Pullman Park.

KU (33-15) will face West Chester University (34-9) on Thursday, May 3 at 3:30 p.m. in a second round game.  Gannon (25-22) will face Slippery Rock (24-24-1) at 9:30 a.m. in an elimination game.
 
Neely threw 84 pitches in six innings and struck out eight batters to help the Golden Bears earn the come-from-behind victory.  Both were career-highs as the southpaw picked up his team-leading seventh victory of the season. 
 
“I feel I did a good job today of getting ahead of batters,” Neely said.  “My slider was working well against left handed hitters, so I really wanted to make sure I was getting ahead.  I think that was a major reason to why I was able to get strikeouts.”
 
Looking into Neely's impressive outing, he was able to control the first stint of the game to allow the Golden Bear offense to capture the lead.  He struck out the side in the first, and retired all six batters in the second and third innings.  His aggressiveness on the mound gave KU head coach Chris Blum the confidence to throw the once-bullpen specialist in the opening playoff game.
 
“His last couple performances have been pretty good and it wasn't a big hesitation to put him on the mound,” Blum said.  “We looked at some statistics and saw they didn't fare too well against left-handed hitters in the past.  Tom came out and threw another great game for us.”
 
After surrendering a first inning run by an RBI single, Kutztown used the first five batters of the third inning to retake the lead.  Gannon pitcher Paul McKenna loaded the bases with no outs to bring Shayne Houck (Boyertown, PA/Boyertown) (Boyertown, Pa./Boyertown) to the plate.  Houck fought back from an 0-2 count and was hit by a pitch to tie the game and record his 200th career RBI.  Houck was 2-for-3 at the plate.
 
Junior catcher Matt Albaugh (Hatfield, PA/North Penn) (Hatfield, Pa./North Penn) followed Houck with a sacrifice fly to center field, giving KU a 2-1 advantage.
 
Leadoff hitter Cody Montz (Schuylkill Haven, PA/Schuylkill Haven) (Schuylkill Haven, Pa./Schuylkill Haven) had a game-high three hits with an RBI.  He has reached base safely in 25 straight games to lift his team-best batting average to .382.  Montz did a little bit of everything against the Golden Knights.  He led off the game with a walk, legged out an infield bunt single in the third, drilled an RBI double to  left center in the fourth, and singled through the left side in the eighth to become one of KU's most all-around players.
 
“Cody's leadership has been tremendous, both vocal and by example,” Blum said.  “He's a catalyst for us right now and when he gets going, the team gets going.  But even when he's not going, he's making plays in the field, running, diving, getting on base; whatever it takes to help the team win.”
 
KU tacked on two runs in the fourth off RBI hits from Montz and junior Brett Hauck (Kutztown, PA/Kutztown) (Kutztown, Pa./Kutztown) to grow the lead to three (4-1).
 
Travis Kreitz (Gilbertsville, PA/Boyertown) (Gilbertsville, Pa./Boyertown) drove in a run in the fifth off a sacrifice fly, but Gannon responded with two runs in the bottom half of the inning to bring the game within reach for GU. 
 
Freshman Connor Wing (West Chester, PA/Unionville) (West Chester, Pa./Unionville) relieved Neely in the seventh and threw 1.1 innings while allowing one run in the bottom of the eighth.  Senior Trent Mertz (Kutztown, PA/Kutztown) (Kutztown, Pa./Kutztown) closed out the game to record the save and give Neely the win.
 
“Starting in the playoffs was a goal of mine when I came to KU,” Neely said.  “I thought I did pretty well early on this year, but then I had a little bit of trouble with control midway through the season.  Now, I feel I am able to control the ball well and throw effective innings.  In the playoffs, you have to win to keep on going and it feels great to get this win.”
 
McKenna picked up the loss for Gannon with eight innings of work.  He struck out three KU hitters but walked four.  GU had four multi-hit performers led by Michael Tomko who also had a pair of RBIs.