WILSON, N.C. - The Kutztown University baseball team rode strong pitching to split its two games on day two of its spring break trip Saturday at Fleming Stadium.
The Golden Bears got two runs in the top of the ninth before
Pat Flynn (Pottstown, Pa./West-Mont Christian Academy) slammed the door in the bottom half of the inning to escape with a 2-1 win over Fairmont State University in the nightcap.
Eric Lane (Horsham, Pa./Hatboro-Horsham) started off the ninth inning with a towering, one-out double to right field that hit off the top of wall.
Jeff Zebrowski (Chester Springs, Pa./Bishop Shanahan) came in to pinch-run and moved over to third on a groundout. With Kutztown being down to its last out, the Golden Bears struck out but
Zach Schram (Newtown, Pa./Council Rock North (Mercer County C.C.)) was able to reach base on a drop-third strike. Zebrowski came around to score and Schram moved to third after a Fairmont throwing error on the play. Schram then scored moments later off a passed ball to give KU its first lead of the day. Flynn came in with one-out and a runner on second and struck out the next two batters he faced to end the game.
Mike Kammerer (Allentown, Pa./Allentown Central Catholic) threw seven innings with 10 strikeouts, allowing just five hits and one earned run for the Golden Bears.
Anthony DeVito (Philadelphia, Pa./Central (Mercer County C.C.)) pitched 1.1 scoreless innings in relief to pick up the win.
Logan Johnson threw seven shutout innings with six strikeouts for Fairmont State (5-1).
Kutztown dropped its first game of the day in a 5-3 hard-fought loss to West Virginia State.
In what started off as a pitcher duel turned into a 4-0 WVS lead heading into the seventh inning. KU got three runs in the bottom half of the seventh, but couldn't muster any more runs in the defeat.
Alec O'Dell (Edgewood, Md./West Chester Bayard Rustin (Harford C.C.)) led the way for Kutztown on offense, finishing the day 2-for-2 with two RBIs and a run scored. O'Dell reached base all five times at the plate. Schram added an RBI single in the seventh.
Matt Swarmer (Mohnton, Pa./Governor Mifflin) struck out 10 over six innings, allowing five hits and three earned runs.
Jonat Cline finished the day 2-for-3 with a run scored for the Yellow Jackets (2-5).
The Golden Bears are now 2-1 on their current trip and improved to 5-7 on the season.
Kutztown has the day off Sunday before returning to the diamond against Clarion University, Monday at Fleming Stadium. First pitch is scheduled for 7 p.m.