NEWPORT NEWS, Va. – The Kutztown University baseball team was defeated by the Bloomsburg University Huskies, 11-5, and the Newport News Apprentice School, 6-2, on Saturday in its second of back-to-back days facing both of these sides.

Ryan Cox (Aliquippa, Pa./Hopewell (St. Bonaventure)) and Bo Rottet (Tamaqua, Pa./Tamaqua) combined for seven hits in the middle of the lineup for manager Chris Blum to lead the Golden Bear offense. 
 
Game One (vs. Bloomsburg)
 
Bloomsburg wasted no time in getting on the board early, plating seven runs in the first 3.5 innings off of KU starter Anthony DeVito (Philadelphia, Pa./Central (Mercer County C.C.)). In the bottom of the fourth, Jeff Zebrowski (Chester Springs, Pa./Bishop Shanahan) put the Golden Bears on the board with a two-out, two-RBI double, scoring Mitch Pinder (Gilbertsville, Pa./Boyertown Area) and Cox.
 
After the Huskies tacked on one more in top of the fifth inning on a sacrifice fly, Kutztown brought two more runners home in the bottom half to cut the deficit to four runs, trailing 8-4. Rottet singled after a Golden Bear fly-out to begin the inning and advanced to second on a wild pitch.
 
A Cox groundout to the right side advanced Rottet to third base and the second wild pitch of the inning brought Rottet home for KU's third run. Zack Delp (Whitehall, Pa./Whitehall) stepped to the plate a short time later as a pinch-hitter and worked an RBI-walk with the bases loaded to score Nick Lafferty (Croydon, Pa./Archbishop Wood). The scoring would stop here, however, for the Maroon and Gold in the bottom of the fifth as Zebrowski was called out on strikes, stranding three runners on base.
 
The Huskies added one more in both the sixth and the seventh innings and kept KU off the board for the final four innings, winning 11-5. Barrett Dunkelberger (Reading, Pa./Reading) and Garrett Alread (Victor, N.Y./Victor (Northampton C.C.)) were both solid in relief, pitching 2.0 and 1.0 innings, respectively, giving up just one combined run and collectively striking out four Bloomsburg batters.
 
DeVito took the loss for Kutztown, dropping his record to 1-0 while Husky reliever JJ Spehrley (1-0) notched the win, going 3.0 innings in relief and giving up just one run.
 
Game Two (vs. Newport News)
 
Showing no ill effects from its second tough loss to Bloomsburg in as many days, two of the first three Golden Bears in the batting order reached base to begin the second game of the day versus host-Newport News. Cox them came through in the clean-up spot, delivering his second extra-base hit of the day, scoring Mike Villa (Scranton, Pa./West Scranton (Lackawanna)) on an RBI-double to put KU ahead 1-0 after the opening frame.
 
The Builders responded with a two-spot, however, in the bottom of the first, getting an RBI-double of their own and scoring their second run off of a Zach Peters (Lititz, Pa./Warwick) wild pitch to pull in front, 2-1, after one.
 
The KU bats went cold after the first inning, as it was held off the scoreboard until the top of the sixth. Newport News, on the other hand, scraped out runs in the second and the fourth and brought two more across in the fifth on a throwing error and sacrifice fly.

Pinder flied out to right, scoring Dariel Richardson (Reading, Pa./Reading) in the top of the sixth to break the Golden Bear scoring drought, but the Kutztown offense could not solve Builder reliever Mike Brumfie, who pitched 3.0 innings and struck out seven to close the game. For the Maroon and Gold, Jeff Charles (Whitehall, Pa./Whitehall (Lehigh Carbon C.C.)) was solid in relief, going 2.0 innings strong with one strikeout.
 
Peters took the loss for KU, falling to 0-1, throwing 85 pitches over 3.0 innings and giving up five hits, three runs, two earned and walking three.
 
Kutztown has almost two weeks off from competition before facing off with Wheeling Jesuit for the first game of its spring break trip, traveling to Wilson, N.C for six games from Mar. 9-14.