Series Stats
EAST STROUDSBURG, Pa. – Propelled by two home runs in the opener from
Nick Lafferty (Croydon, Pa./Archbishop Wood), the Kutztown University baseball team notched its third consecutive series split in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC), winning game one 15-6 and dropping the series finale, 13-2.
After securing the big hit in KU's game two win over ESU on Friday, Lafferty continued his red-hot weekend at the dish with two homers and six RBI in game one, the first multi-home run game for a Golden Bear since the 2016 season. The Croydon native finished the four-game series against ESU going 6-for-12 with the two long balls and eight RBI.
Ryan Cox (Aliquippa, Pa./Hopewell (St. Bonaventure)) combined for three hits in the Maroon and Gold's two games, reaching base in each of them to extend his consecutive games on-base streak to 27 straight. Cox registered a team-high eight hits on the weekend against the Warriors, batting .571 and knocking in five runs.
Anthony DeVito (Philadelphia, Pa./Central (Mercer County C.C.)) (3-2) earned his second win of the week, notching the victory in relief for KU against Bloomsburg on April 11, throwing 5.0 innings and surrendering four earned runs while striking out five in the opener against ESU.
Game One
The Golden Bears carried over their offensive success from the game two rally yesterday, plating two first inning runs off ESU's Connor Johnson. Cox brought home Rottet on a groundout and then Lafferty followed that with his first big fly, sneaking one inside the foul pole down the left field line for a solo shot to put KU up 2-0.
Both sides went quietly in the second inning before Kutztown would add to its lead in the top of the third.
Tanner Miller (Elizabethville, Pa./Upper Dauphin Area), whom also collected two hits in the game, walked to get aboard with no one out and advanced to third via a two-base error from the Warrior first baseman. Lafferty came through with an RBI groundout to third, scoring Miller to give DeVito a three-run lead after 2.5 innings.
DeVito continued to cruise, stranding two ESU runners on base, and then got more help from his offense in top half of the fourth. With two outs,
Jeff Zebrowski (Chester Springs, Pa./Bishop Shanahan) doubled to put a runner in scoring position for KU and Rottet then singled in Zebrowski to make it 4-0. A Cox infield single then scored Rottet which was later followed by an RBI walk from
Collin Bishop (Laurel Springs, N.J./Highland Regional). All told, Kutztown plated three two-out runs in the fourth to pull in front 6-0.
The Warriors got one back on a lead-off home run in the bottom of the fourth, but DeVito escaped another jam, stranding two once again. In the top of the fifth, the Golden Bears broke it wide open as
Zack Delp (Whitehall, Pa./Whitehall) first scored on a successful squeeze by Zebrowski. With the bases loaded in the frame, Lafferty crushed a grand slam to left center field, putting the Maroon and Gold up 11-1.
An ESU home run in the bottom of the fifth made it 11-4, but Kutztown quickly answered with three runs of its own in the top of the sixth to silence any type of comeback. A two-RBI single for Cox scored Rottet and
Zach Moretski (Harleysville, Pa./La Salle College) with Miller scoring a short time later on a wild pitch.
The Warriors scored one each in the bottom of the sixth and seventh innings while the Maroon and Gold got once more across on an RBI single from
Jeff Charles (Whitehall, Pa./Whitehall (Lehigh Carbon C.C.)) in the top of the seventh to finalize the 15-6 score in its favor.
Game Two
Stephen Wagner Jr. (Henderson, Nev./Boulder City (Western Oregon)) took the mound for Kutztown after his team was held scoreless in the top of the first to open the second game. ESU's offense came out with a renewed energy in the home half, plating two runs in the opening frame off of the Golden Bear freshman starter.
The second inning proved to be the difference, however, as the Warriors were able to chase Wagner Jr. scoring three runs before the Las Vegas native registered his first out. The hitting continued for ESU even as Wagner Jr. gave way to
Gavilan Fogarty-Harnish (Ephrata, Pa./Ephrata) in the frame. All coming with two outs, the Warriors hit two home runs and had a total of three extra-base hits off Fogarty-Harnish, increasing their lead to 13-0 via an 11-run second inning.
KU answered with two in the top-half of the third on RBI from both Miller and Cox, but couldn't muster much else against ESU starter Carson Freeman. Freeman and Nick DiEva held the Golden Bear offense to just two runs and four hits, silencing the bats which had scored 15 runs on 11 hits in the prior game.
East Stroudsburg also went cold for the remainder of the ballgame, but its sizeable lead allowed it to cruise to the game two victory by a 13-2 final.
Freeman (2-1) picked up the victory, going 6.0 strong innings and giving up just two earned runs, striking out two. Wagner Jr. (0-3) took the loss for KU, surrendering seven earned runs and eight hits in 1.1 innings.
With today's split result, Kutztown moves to 13-13 overall and 7-9 in the PSAC East while the Warriors sit at 17-14 and 6-8 in conference play.
The Golden Bears will take on Adelphi University in non-conference action on Wednesday, April 18 at 3:30 p.m. at North Campus Field before resuming their PSAC schedule on April 20-21 against West Chester.
