KUTZTOWN, Pa. – The Kutztown University baseball team was defeated by the Adelphi University Panthers 6-1 on Wednesday afternoon in non-conference action on North Campus Field.
KU mustered just four hits, plating a lone run in the bottom of the eighth inning via an
Evan Musto (Exeter, Pa./Wyoming Area) double to left, which scored
Ryan Cox (Aliquippa, Pa./Hopewell (St. Bonaventure)).
Cox doubled in a pinch-hitting role earlier in the eighth inning, lacing a shot down the left field line to extend his consecutive games on-base streak to 28 in-a-row.
Kody Cracknell (Jamison, Pa./Archbishop Wood) got the nod as the starter from KU manager
Chris Blum, making his first collegiate start against Adelphi. Cracknell, whom has still yet to surrender a run, retired the Panthers in the first two innings, giving up one hit and striking out two.
Cracknell then gave way to
Garrett Alread (Victor, N.Y./Victor (Northampton C.C.)) as Blum was employing a pitcher-by-committee strategy with this being a mid-week, non-conference affair. Alread got the first two outs in the top of the third, but then ran into trouble, walking in a run and giving up another on an RBI single to put Adelphi up 2-0 after 2.5 innings.
Evan Steele was excellent on the mound for the Panthers, fooling the Maroon and Gold lineup with a bevy of off-speed pitches over his 4.0 innings of work. Steele finished with six strikeouts, surrendering his only hit to
Nick Lafferty (Croydon, Pa./Archbishop Wood), who singled with two outs in the bottom of the fourth.
Adelphi added a run in the top of the seventh and three in the top of the eighth to provide itself some cushion as the game progressed. KU threatened in the bottom of the eighth to make it a game with Musto's double coming with no one out and putting runners on second and third. However, the Golden Bears couldn't get any more runs across in the frame, striking out three times and stranding the bases loaded.
Both sides went down in order in the ninth as this low-scoring affair went the way of Adelphi, 6-1. Steele earned the victory, improving his record to 3-2 while Alread took the loss (0-1), his first of the season.
The Maroon and Gold get back to conference play this weekend, taking on West Chester University on April 20-21. First pitch from WCU's Serpico Stadium will be at 1 p.m. on Friday, April 20.
