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KUTZTOWN, Pa. – The Kutztown University baseball team dropped a pair of hard-fought one-run Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) games to Mansfield on Friday, falling to the Mountaineers 8-9 in eight innings and 1-2 on a chilly afternoon at North Campus Field.
 
Alec O'Dell (Edgewood, Md./West Chester Bayard Rustin (Harford C.C.)) went a combined 5-for-7 in the doubleheader with three RBI, two runs scored and a walk, and hit his first home run of the season to tie the game at 1-1 in the fourth inning of game two.  
 
KU starter Anthony DeVito (Philadelphia, Pa./Central (Mercer County C.C.)) then came out and worked a 1-2-3 fifth inning to put a stamp on a great pitching performance. Despite allowing the first two hitters of the sixth to reach base, forcing a call to the bullpen, he gave up just one two hits over his five innings of work. The junior struck out three, walked two and hit one batter.
 
Josh Houser (New Freedom, Pa./Susquehannock (Harford C.C.)) relieved DeVito with two runners on and none away and would go on to strand a runner on third with back-to-back strikeouts.
 
O'Dell singled with one out for one his two-base hits in the sixth, but Kutztown could make nothing of it and the game headed to the seventh still tied at 1-1.
 
It was an unearned run that sealed the fate of game two. After the leadoff hitter singled, a fielder's choice was recorded for the first out, but during the ensuing at-bat a stolen base and error gave Mansfield a runner on third with one out. Following a walk, a bloop single to right field allowed the go-ahead run to score and it would turn out to be the game-winner.
 
Ryan Cox (Aliquippa, Pa./Hopewell (St. Bonaventure)) kept Kutztown's chances alive with a two-out single in the bottom of the seventh, and after a wild pitch the Maroon and Gold had the tying run in scoring position, but KU was unable to tie the game.

Houser was credited with the loss despite not allowing an earned run in his two innings. He scattered two hits, while striking out three against just one walk.  
 
O'Dell was the only Golden Bear with multiple hits in the nightcap as he finished a perfect 2-for-2 with the home run and a walk.
 
Game one was the complete opposite of the nightcap, with the two teams combining for 26 hits. Kutztown had 15 of its own, its fourth-highest total of the season.
 
O'Dell was one of two Golden Bears with three-hit performances, his second such game of the year. He finished 3-for-5 with two RBI, both of which were singles – in the third and sixth – that cut a Mansfield lead to one at the time.
 
Collin Bishop (Laurel Springs, N.J./Highland Regional) also had three hits, his third three-hit game of the year, as he went 3-for-4 with two runs scored and an RBI.
 
Mike Milazzo (Titusville, N.J./Notre Dame) reached base three times by going 2-for-3 with a walk and two RBI, while Bo Rottet (Tamaqua, Pa./Tamaqua) batted 2-for-5 with a walk and a run scored.
 
KU erased early deficits of 0-2 and 2-5 to comeback and even take the lead, 6-5, on Ben Eppley (Mechanicsburg, Pa./Cumberland Valley (Frederick C.C.))'s RBI single with two outs in the bottom of the fifth.
 
Mansfield (18-20, 7-11 PSAC) responded right back with three runs in the top of the sixth, the only three runs scored on Gavilan Fogarty-Harnish (Ephrata, Pa./Ephrata) in his four innings of relief, to go back on top 8-6.
 
Kutztown (13-24, 3-15) chipped away though, cutting the deficit to just one on O'Dell's two-out RBI single in the sixth. Needing a run to force extras in the bottom of the seventh, it was Milazzo who led off with a single. After Eppley sacrificed pinch-runner Dariel Richardson (Reading, Pa./Reading) to second base, the second out was recorded on a strikeout. Down to its last out, and eventually its last strike after two straight pitches in the zone, it was Rottet who came through with the clutch RBI single to left-centerfield on an 0-2 pitch to bring home the tying run.
 
Mansfield took the momentum right back in the top of the eighth though , and it took just one swing as Ryan Paige sent a 3-2 pitch over the rightfield fence to put the Mountaineers back on top.
 
Jeff Zebrowski (Chester Springs, Pa./Bishop Shanahan), who had previously pinch run, gave KU life in the bottom half of the frame with a one-out single. He would eventually reach third with two outs, but Mansfield reliever Tyler Guidos came through with a clutch strikeout to strand him there and secure the victory.  
 
Kutztown and the Mountaineers will travel to Mansfield tomorrow for another doubleheader that begins at 1 p.m.