KUTZTOWN, Pa. – The Kutztown University baseball team returned home from after a five-game in six-day trip to North Carolina, and continued its win streak by defeating the University of the Sciences 20-3 Monday afternoon in non-conference play at North Campus Field.
The weather in eastern Pennsylvania may have been a little bit cooler for the KU, but the bats remained hot. With 20 hits in their last game, the Golden Bears (6-4 overall) nearly matched that output by finishing with 19 hits in extending their win streak to three, and wins in five of their last six games. The 20 runs is the most KU has scored in a game since the 2011 season, and the most runs scored on their home field since 2010. The Kutztown lineup also totaled 17 RBIs, the most in single game since it had 24 in 2011.
Nearly every Golden Bears player contributed to the victory. Six of the nine batters in head coach
Chris Blum's starting lineup recorded hits, led by two from
Mike Villa (Scranton, Pa./West Scranton (Lackawanna)),
Collin Bishop (Laurel Springs, N.J./Highland Regional) and
Mitch Pinder (Gilbertsville, Pa./Boyertown Area).
Zach Moretski (Harleysville, Pa./La Salle College),
Evan Musto (Exeter, Pa./Wyoming Area) and
Zack Delp (Whitehall, Pa./Whitehall) all pinch hit and joined the two-hit parade. In total, 17 KU players received at least one at-bat.
It took Kutztown a few innings to get going, as it led just 2-1 after two innings and 4-1 after three. The game was broken open during the next three innings when KU combined to score 14 runs in that stretch.
There were eight extra base hits, highlighted by long balls from Delp and
Dariel Richardson (Reading, Pa./Reading). It was the first home run of the season for Delp and second for Richardson. Villa connected on a triple and Bishop, Moretski, Pinder, Musto and
Mike Weber (Oxford, Pa./Oxford Area) all added one double each. Delp led the way with three RBIs and Weber, Pinder and
Ryan Cox (Aliquippa, Pa./Hopewell (St. Bonaventure)) each had two.
Eight Kutztown pitchers threw at least an inning, with starter
Michael Hunter (Mertztown, Pa./Brandywine Heights (Marist)) throwing the most (2.0 innings) and earning the victory, his second on the season, improving to 2-0.
Zach Peters (Lititz, Pa./Warwick),
Josh Houser (New Freedom, Pa./Susquehannock (Harford C.C.)),
Jeff Charles (Whitehall, Pa./Whitehall (Lehigh Carbon C.C.)),
Alex Bohn (Reading, Pa./Muhlenberg),
Kody Cracknell (Jamison, Pa./Archbishop Wood),
Garrett Alread (Victor, N.Y./Victor (Northampton C.C.)) and
Stephen Wagner Jr. (Henderson, Nev./Boulder City (Western Oregon)) all were on the mound for an inning. Charles, Alread and Wagner Jr. all tied or set new season-highs by striking out two batters.
Kutztown opens Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) play on Friday, Mar. 23 when it travels to take on Bloomsburg University in a doubleheader that begins with first pitch at 1 p.m.
