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KUTZTOWN, Pa. – The Kutztown University baseball team heads to the Keystone State after a 5-2 record in Spring Break and begins a four-game set against West Chester University beginning on Saturday, March 22. The Golden Bears will play the first two games on Saturday at North Campus Field in what will be the home opener.
 
Kutztown (9-3) will look to exact some revenge against the Golden Rams (7-3) after losing three of four to WCU in the regular season and falling in the second round of the PSAC Championship last year. The losses played a role in Kutztown missing the NCAA Regionals as an at-large team despite owning a 32-16 record.
 
LAST TIME OUT: The Golden Bears wrapped up their Spring Break road trip in historic fashion, as 4-1 and 6-0 victories at Virginia State University gave Head Coach Chris Blum his 400th career victory. Furthermore, in Game 2, pitchers Ryan Clow (Doylestown, PA/Central Bucks East) and Zach Wasson (Pottstown, PA/Boyertown (Montgomery CC)) combined for a no-hitter. In the two games, the KU pitchers allowed just one unearned run, which came in the first inning in Game 1. Senior Corey Snyder (Lincoln University, PA/Avon Grove) got the first victory, while the sophomore Clow earned the win in doubleheader's second half. Meanwhile, senior first baseman Kyle Stoudt (Mertztown, PA/Brandywine Heights) record three RBI in each game. KU finishes the break 5-2, while earning sweeps over Saint Rose and Virginia State.
 
FAST TO 400: Head Coach Chris Blum earned his 400th career victory when the Golden Bears defeated Virginia State in Game 2 of Thursday's doubleheader. Blum earned the milestone in his 12th season at the helm, doing so in 584 games. He became the ninth PSAC skipper with 400 career wins, and only Mansfield's Harry Hilson accomplished the feat quicker. Furthermore, Blum ranks (through the 2013 season) ninth among active Division II head coaches in winning percentage. On the all-time charts, the 68.6 percentage ranks 19th in Division II.
 
ANOTHER SPRING NO-NO: In the same breathe of earning Coach Blum in his 400th career victory, the Golden Bears got a seven-inning no-hitter on the Trojans. Sophomore right-hander Clow threw four innings and allowed only three runners on base. All three were from walks. He also struck out four batters. Then, junior right-hander Wasson threw three perfect innings to complete the no-hitter. Kutztown last threw a no-hitter 366 days earlier to the VSU gem, when the Golden Bears were on a Spring Break road trip and pulled the feat against Shaw University in seven innings. Of note, Clow pitched the final three outs in that no-no.
 
START ME UP: Kutztown owns a 9-3 record in large part due to stellar starting pitching. The Maroon and Gold starters own a collective 1.98 ERA and .243 BAA. Five of those starters (Snyder, Clow, Rossi, Holmes and Stoudt...who combined for a 1.23 ERA) each own an ERA below 2.25 for the season. The six starters over the first 12 games is senior right-hander Brandon Shimo (Jermyn, PA/Lakeland (Lackawanna)), who was arguably Kutztown's most successful starter in 2013. With him rounding into form, the Golden Bears appear to have a weekly rotation that can handle the demands from both PSAC and non-conference doubleheaders.
 
PSAC REALIGNMENT: With Pittsburgh-Johnstown and Seton Hill joining the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) this academic year, the baseball conference saw some slight realignment. The two newcomers joined the PSAC West, while Lock Haven switched divisions and moved to the PSAC East. KU now has 28 regular-season PSAC East games.
 
THEY NEED FIVE: While Kutztown starting pitching is dominating for the most part (1.98 ERA) this season, the trouble inning for them or the bullpen comes during the fifth inning. Of the 50 runs allowed, the Golden Bears surrendered 17 of them in the fifth (34 percent of total runs allowed). KU has yet to allow double-digit runs in any other inning. The Golden Bears have only been outscored in the fifth inning (17-13) and ninth inning (9-1). They have outscored their opponents 59-24 in the other innings.
 
FANTASTIC FIRST FOUR: In contrast to the harmful five count, the Golden Bears are dominating on the mound in the first four innings. Kutztown has only allowed eight runs in 48 overall innings in that juncture. This includes 12 consecutive shut-out third innings (9-0 advantage). Only once has the Golden Bears allowed multiple runs in any of these innings, when they allowed two runs to Saint Rose in the second half of the March 15 doubleheader. KU owns a 30-8 gross advantage in the first four innings.
 
KEY SPLITS: Entering PSAC play, the Golden Bears have established some clear trends for victory. With strong pitching, it seems apparent so far that Kutztown can regularly win with solid offense. Kutztown owns a perfect 9-0 mark when scoring at least four runs, but an 0-3 record when scoring three runs or fewer. Furthermore, the Maroon and Gold are also perfect when holding an advantage in hits (7-0) or total bases (7-0). They are 0-3 in each category when holding a statistical disadvantage. Finally, Kutztown owns a perfect 4-0 mark when scoring at least four runs in a single inning.
 
Looking in the Other Corner: the West Chester Golden Rams
 
GOLDEN ARMS, PART 1: With the departure of Joe Gunkel from last year's squad (he was drafted by the Boston Red Sox in the 18th round), West Chester needed to have a few starters improve to maintain the staff's standard for excellence. Through 10 games, that seems to be the case. The Golden Rams own a 2.91 ERA and force opponents to hit only .237 on the season. No qualifying pitcher (at least 4.0 IP) owns an ERA worse than Fred Breidenbach's 3.18 mark. Still, Breidenbach leads the team with three starts and has struck out 17 batters in 17.0 innings of work. Opponents hit only .239 against him.
 
GOLDEN RAMS, PART 2: The nine qualifying pitchers own a collective 1.98 ERA. This includes three who own a perfect ERA: Ron Scull (12.0 IP), Andrew Gernert (6.1 IP) and Kyle Weary (6.0 IP). Each of the last two has allowed two unearned runs apiece. However, Weary in particular makes up for it with no hits allowed (in 20 AB) and seven strikeouts. Weary's only bug-a-boo involves his six walks allowed.
 
FINDING THE BATS: The Golden Rams own a .267 batting average, with four players averaging over .300 on the season. Justin Roman leads the way for WCU, with his team-best .375 batting average and 11 RBI. He also struck out 15 times, making him a very dangerous hitter with the ball in play (.576 in that scenario). Meanwhile, Chris Pula (.324 batting average this season) had marked success against the Golden Bears last season. Drew Diehl (.364 BA) and Matt Petrizzi (.359 BA) also own good averages.