KUTZTOWN, Pa. – After falling in the opening game 14-7, the Kutztown University baseball team responded in game two, earning a split against first-place Bloomsburg University with a 6-4 victory, head coach Chris Blum's 200th career Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) win. 
 
In securing its manager's 200th career conference victory, Kutztown (11-11, 5-7 PSAC) won its fifth conference game of the season, equaling its win total from 2017 with 16 PSAC games remaining. 
 
Ryan Cox (Aliquippa, Pa./Hopewell (St. Bonaventure)) reached base in both games, singling in his last at-bat in game one, to extend his on-base streak to 23 consecutive games. Cox collected a team-high four hits combined in KU's two games and is now batting .364 on the season.
 
Dariel Richardson (Reading, Pa./Reading) and Zack Delp (Whitehall, Pa./Whitehall) drove the KU offense in game two with Richardson launching a solo shot in the second and Delp providing Kutztown some much-needed insurance in the fifth with a two-run homer of his own. Delp and Richardson combined for three RBI in game two with Richardson also playing a part in the other two runs scored in the fifth inning. A misplayed Richardson grounder by the Husky second baseman allowed two runs to come across for the Maroon and Gold, extending the inning for Delp, who came through with the big fly. 
 
Gavilan Fogarty-Harnish (Ephrata, Pa./Ephrata) picked up the win in game two, going 3.0 innings and scattering three hits, surrendering a lone earned run in the first while striking out four. Stephen Wagner Jr. (Henderson, Nev./Boulder City (Western Oregon)) retired Bloomsburg in the bottom of the seventh to earn his second save of the season, pitching 1.0 scoreless frame.

Game One
With both teams short on pitching, being a mid-week contest, it was expected that game one would feature plenty of offensive fireworks, of which it certainly delivered. Both sides traded blows in the first as the Huskies scored two off of KU starter Zach Peters (Lititz, Pa./Warwick), but the Maroon and Gold responded with three in the bottom half courtesy of a two-RBI single by Nick Lafferty (Croydon, Pa./Archbishop Wood) which was followed by an RBI-single from Tanner Miller (Elizabethville, Pa./Upper Dauphin Area).
 
The scoring continued in the top of the second as BU pushed four runs across, chasing Peters whom exited after two innings of work. Both teams were held off the board, Kutztown in the bottom of the second and Bloomsburg in the top of third, before Miller delivered his second  RBI-hit of the game for the Golden Bears, cutting the Husky lead to 6-4. 
 
This back-and-forth momentum swing would end in the top of the fourth, however, as the potent Bloomsburg offense exploded for eight runs in the top half aided by a grand slam from Andrew Holmes. 
 
Down 14-4 after 4.5 innings, Kutztown fought to make a comeback, scoring two in the bottom of the fourth on RBI-walks from Collin Bishop (Laurel Springs, N.J./Highland Regional) and Richardson and tacking another one on in the home half of the fifth to make the score 14-7. The bats went cold, however, for the duration of the game as the Husky pitching staff worked scoreless sixth and seventh innings to claim the game one win, 14-7. 
 
Peters took the loss for KU, dropping his season record to 0-2 while Bloomsburg's Ed Herbener (2-0) stayed unblemished, picking up his second win. 
 
Game Two
 
Between the unavailable arms from last weekend's series with Lock Haven and having used five pitchers in game one against Bloomsburg, Blum needed a solid start from Fogarty-Harnish, whom answered the bell effectively. After surrendering a leadoff double, the Ephrata-native worked his way out of the first inning despite giving up a one-out hit to put the Huskies ahead 1-0. 
 
Fogarty-Harnish settled in on the bump at this point, striking out the final two Bloomsburg batters to escape any further damage in the first. He then made quick work of the Huskies in the top of the second, giving the Maroon and Gold a chance to tie it up in the bottom half.
 
One swing of the bat was all it took as Richardson crushed a full-count pitch over the left field wall for his team-leading fourth home run of the season, knotting it up at 1-1. KU wasn't done in the inning as Bo Rottet (Tamaqua, Pa./Tamaqua) scored Delp on a groundout and Mike Villa (Scranton, Pa./West Scranton (Lackawanna))'s grounder was then misplayed by BU's second baseman, scoring Ryan Weller (Gilbertsville, Pa./Boyertown Area) to put Kutztown in front 3-1. 
 
Neither team scored in the third and fourth innings as Zach Moretski (Harleysville, Pa./La Salle College), in relief of Fogarty-Harnish, worked a scoreless fourth. The top of the fifth produced some drama for the Golden Bears in holding their lead, as Bloomsburg got an RBI-double from Austin Edgette to bring itself within one. Anthony DeVito (Philadelphia, Pa./Central (Mercer County C.C.)) closed the door on any opportunity for more in the fifth, retiring Holmes via strikeout to strand the bases loaded and keep the KU lead intact. 
 
Needing a bit of insurance, Cox singled to lead off the bottom of the fifth, but back-to-back groundouts had it looking like that wouldn't happen. That all changed, however, on Richardson's routine grounder to second, which found its way through the wickets of the Husky second baseman, plating Cox. Richardson swiped second to put himself in scoring position, but it wouldn't matter much as Delp brought his teammate home with a moon-shot to left to put the Maroon and Gold up 6-2.  
 
The Huskies didn't go away quietly despite a four-run deficit with two innings to go, scoring two in the top of the sixth off DeVito to cut the KU lead to 6-4. Wagner Jr. made it interesting, allowing a lead-off hit to open the seventh, but put out the fire via a double play ball to get the first two outs. Following a single and a walk, the Las Vegas native put the last nail in the BU coffin, getting a swing-and-miss for the final out of the game, earning the save. 

Today's doubleheader marked the conclusion of the season series with the Huskies with Bloomsburg defeating KU in 3-of-4 conference games and 5-of-6 overall. 

Kutztown will have its normal rotation slated to go this weekend as it takes on East Stroudsburg University on Friday afternoon at North Campus Field. First pitch is scheduled for 1 p.m.