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KUTZTOWN, Pa. – The 13th-ranked Kutztown University baseball team tallied season-highs in runs and hits as it earned a 16-10 victory over Adelphi University on a windy Wednesday afternoon at North Campus Field.
There were 35 combined hits in Wednesday's nine-inning affair as the Golden Bears (18-5) recorded a season-high 18. Kutztown had three innings in which it scored four or more runs, and after trailing the Panthers (11-12-1) 8-7 in the sixth, scored eight unanswered to seal the victory.
Three Golden Bears had three-hit performances. Juniors
Brett Hauck (Kutztown, PA/Kutztown) and
Kyle Stoudt (Mertztown, PA/Brandywine Heights), along with sophomore
Ricky Gorrell (Royersford, PA/Spring-Ford) all had three hits with multiple RBI. Hauck had three doubles with three RBI, Stoudt drove in four and also started the game on the mound and struck out a season-high five batters, and Gorrell stole a pair of bases.
Matt Albaugh (Hatfield, PA/North Penn),
John Dockins (Cinnaminson, NJ/Cinnaminson (Frederick CC)), and
Clay Sebesky (Doylestown, PA/Central Bucks East) also had multi-hit games for Kutztown.
Despite allowing the most hits of the season, the Kutztown pitching staff struck out a season-high 17 batters. It was the most strikeouts in a game for Kutztown since current member of the New York Mets organization Darin Gorski accounted for 15 of Kutztown's 18 strikeouts against Slippery Rock on May 6, 2009, also a nine-inning game.
Kutztown used seven pitchers, all throwing one inning besides Stoudt pitching the opening three. Along with Stoudt's five,
James Rossi (Marlton, NJ/Cherokee) and
Jordan Garcia (Mount Carmel, PA/Fleetwood) struck out the side in their respective innings, and
Brandon Shurr (Bernville, PA/Schuylkill Valley) and
Billy Felo (Dauphin, PA/Central Dauphin/Chesapeake College) picked up two strikeouts apiece in their time on the mound.
Adelphi took an early 2-0 lead in the second inning off a two-run single by Anthony Zarrella. Zarrella had a game-high five RBI for the Panthers.
Hauck put KU on the board in the third with a double that brought up chalk on the right field line to score
Brandon Martinez (Lansdale, PA/North Penn). It sparked the KU offense that led to a six-run fourth inning. Four different Golden Bears had RBI in the inning.
The Panthers fought back with six unanswered runs in the fifth and sixth innings to take an 8-7 lead. Following a strikeout by new KU pitcher
Brandon Shurr (Bernville, PA/Schuylkill Valley) that came off a wild pitch advancing the batter to first base, Adelphi tallied four straight singles to cut the deficit to 7-5. A two-out sacrifice fly closed the scoring in the fifth inning.
Adelphi took the lead with two runs with two outs in the top of the sixth. Kutztown responded with five runs in its following at-bat to build the lead to 12-8. Hauck and Stoudt gave KU a 9-8 lead with RBI hits with no outs, and KU built its lead when a sacrifice bunt by
Travis Kreitz (Gilbertsville, PA/Boyertown) was picked up by the Adelphi pitcher and thrown past third base and into the Kutztown bullpen, scoring two runs. Gorrell closed the scoring in the inning with an RBI single.
Rossi and Garcia kept Adelphi off the board in the seventh and eighth innings, respectively, giving Kutztown the opportunity to seal the win with four runs in the bottom of the eighth. Three of the four runs came with two outs.
The Golden Bears return to action and back into conference play on Friday, April 5 when they host Bloomsburg University at North Campus Field beginning at 1 p.m.
