BUTLER, Pa. – In baseball, it's not always about how you score runs, but how you support those runs with pitching both at the beginning and end of the game.  This season, a quintet of hurlers in the Kutztown University baseball team's bullpen has rose to the occasion and been able to dominate through both the regular season and postseason.
 
Freshman Connor Wing (West Chester, PA/Unionville) (West Chester, Pa./Unionville), sophomore's Kyle Stoudt (Mertztown, PA/Brandywine Heights) (Topton, Pa./Brandywine Heights) and Jason Henderson (Douglassville, PA/Daniel Boone) (Douglassville, Pa./Daniel Boone), junior Billy Felo (Dauphin, PA/Central Dauphin/Chesapeake College) (Dauphin, Pa./Dauphin), and senior Trent Mertz (Kutztown, PA/Kutztown) (Kutztown, Pa./Kutztown) have combined to put up some outstanding numbers in relief for the Golden Bears (34-15).  All five right handers have been counted on in crucial spots during the season and have gotten a chance to perform at the biggest stage of the season thus far.
 
Each pitcher has their own role at the backend of the rotation and has combined to become one of the best units in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC).  KU holds the best team ERA in the conference at 3.29.  Impressively, the five KU relievers have combined to post a 1.75 ERA out of the bullpen in 82.2 innings with 84 strikeouts.
 
Wing has seen the most playoff action so far heading into Friday night's semifinal game against Mercyhurst University.  He's thrown 3.1 combined innings in KU's wins over Gannon and West Chester.  He let up a one-out run-scoring double in the eighth inning against Gannon that broke a streak of 11.1 innings without letting up a run in relief for the West Chester native. 
 
Including eight innings as a starter, Wing holds the second-best ERA on the team at 1.74.  He is tied for second on the team with 34 strikeouts, 26 of which coming in relief.  He is 3-1 on the mound and looks to be one of KU's most promising young pitchers.
 
Stoudt has done a little bit of everything this season.  Along with batting .275 at the plate, he's pitched in ten games while throwing in relief in six of them.  On the mound, however, the younger Stoudt has become quite the asset for ten-year KU skipper Chris Blum.
 
Stoudt has thrown 10.1 innings of relief this season and allowed just one run with seven strikeouts.  For the season, the Topton native holds a 1.93 ERA in 28 innings pitched.  He currently holds a streak of five consecutive innings without allowing a run.  Stoudt has also surrendered just one hit of each of his last four appearances out of the bullpen.
 
Fellow sophomore Henderson has held his own as KU's closer this season.  He is tied for third in the PSAC with six saves this season.  The Douglassville native holds a 2.35 ERA in 23 innings pitched.
 
Henderson has dazzled in the seventh and ninth innings this season.  He often gets his outs by strikeout, and he doesn't give hitters any free bases.  He is fifth on the team with 30 strikeouts while walking just ten.   His latest appearance came in KU's come-from-behind victory over West Chester on Thursday.  He got the first two batters out in the ninth, but allowed a hit which closed the curtain on Henderson's day.  Earlier in the season, he went a stretch of seven consecutive appearances without allowing a run.
 
Felo holds the teams' best ERA at 1.12 as all 16 of his innings pitched have come in relief.  The junior has allowed two runs on the season and has struck out 13 batters while walking five.
 
The Dauphin native redshirted last season and has roared on the scene for the Golden Bears in 2012.  Felo has been effective every time he has taken the mound and is riding a four-game, five-inning stint of not allowing a run.  Felo has also notched multi-strikeout games five times this season.
 
Mertz has moved his way into the dual-closer role throughout the season and can be described as the 'savvy-veteran' of the staff.  In the PSAC Tournament, Mertz picked up a pair of saves in as many days against Gannon and West Chester, and has used his fastball to make opposing hitters look foolish.  It was the first time in his career he has pitched back-to-back days.
 
The senior and Kutztown native has thrown ten innings of relief this season and has allowed one run with eight strikeouts.  Along with his pair of saves, Mertz holds a 3-4 record, largely due to his time in the starting rotation the first half of the season.  Pitching in relief has been something new for Mertz, but he has flourished in his newfound role as the Golden Bears are sure to use his experience down the stretch in the postseason.  

From KU's starting rotation, to its hard throwing hurlers in relief, to its bullpen catcher T.J. Johnson (Whitehall, PA/Whitehall/PSU Berks) (Whitehall, Pa./Whitehall), every piece of the KU roster has been utlilized this season on its way to possibly winning its sixth PSAC title in school history and first since 2008.

KU will now face Mercyhurst at 6:30 p.m. at Pullman Park.  KU hasn't seen Mercyhurst since a 12-5 win in the opening round of the 2010 PSAC Tournament.