PHILADELPHIA – The Kutztown University baseball team was defeated by the Chestnut Hill University Griffins by a final score of 13-5 on Wednesday evening in its final non-conference tilt of the 2018 campaign.
Giving some of its key players some much needed additional rest before this weekend's matchup with Shippensburg, manager
Chris Blum rolled out an adjusted lineup against the Griffins. Most notably, starting pitcher
David Brown (Hatboro, Pa./Hatboro-Horsham) was in the leadoff spot along with being on the mound to begin the game. Brown delivered immediately for Blum, hitting a homerun in his first-ever collegiate at-bat.
Chestnut Hill took advantage of KU's inexperience on the hill, however, scoring nine runs in the first 2.0 innings. The Griffins kept the Golden Bears at a safe distance once establishing this 9-1 lead, scoring four additional runs over the last 7.0 innings while holding Kutztown to just one run in the fourth and eighth and two in the seventh.
Zach Moretski (Harleysville, Pa./La Salle College) led the Maroon and Gold, going 3-for-4 at the plate with a run scored. Brown,
Connor Teschko (Lumberton, N.J./Rancocas Valley Regional),
Tanner Miller (Elizabethville, Pa./Upper Dauphin Area) and
Nick Lafferty (Croydon, Pa./Archbishop Wood) each collected an RBI. Lafferty, who came in to pinch hit in the top of the eighth, singled to left, driving in
Evan Musto (Exeter, Pa./Wyoming Area) for career hit No. 99.
Jeff Zebrowski (Chester Springs, Pa./Bishop Shanahan) knocked out two hits and
Dariel Richardson (Reading, Pa./Reading) and
Zack Delp (Whitehall, Pa./Whitehall) each had one hit for the Maroon and Gold which finished with five runs and 11 hits as a team.
The Golden Bears used six different pitchers in this game with all six of them throwing 2.0 innings or less. The collection of Brown,
Garrett Alread (Victor, N.Y./Victor (Northampton C.C.)),
Barrett Dunkelberger (Reading, Pa./Reading), Moretski,
Kody Cracknell (Jamison, Pa./Archbishop Wood) and Teschko each appeared on the bump as Kutztown surrendered a total of 13 runs and 13 hits, committing one error.
Brown took the loss, dropping his record to 0-1, as he pitched the opening inning of the game after his lead-off homer. For Chestnut Hill, which employed a similar strategy sending five pitchers to the mound in the game, Matthew Kress earned the win, pitching a scoreless inning in relief.
Kutztown will feature its normal starting lineup for this weekend's critical series in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) versus Shippensburg. First pitches from North Campus Field on Friday, May 4 and SU's Fairchild Field on Saturday, May 5 will both be at 1 p.m.
