INDIANA, Pa - Kutztown University baseball took on the Crimson Hawks of the Indiana University of Pennsylvania in a mid-week doubleheader in the east versus west Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference match-up. The Golden Bears were bested two times, falling to a walk-off in the eighth inning of game one.
Game One - Indiana 9, Kutztown 8
With the bases loaded and two down in the inning, Colt Narciso (Norristown, Pa./Pope John Paul II) singled to left field driving in two runs to give the Golden Bears a lead in the top of the first. The Maroon and Gold scored another run on a single to center by Jason Wolff (Hillsborough, N.J./Hillsborough) to extend the lead to three.
The Crimson Hawks managed to drive a run across in the first and second inning to cut the lead to only one after two innings. The Golden Bears managed to hold off the IUP offense until the bottom of the fifth, as the Crimson Hawks scored two runs in the inning taking their first lead of the day.
Heading into the top of the seventh, the Golden Bears trailed by five. The Maroon and Gold managed to tie the game at 8-8, with five runs coming on four hits in the inning. The four singles in the inning by Mike Kelly (Schwenksville, Pa./Pope John Paul II), Mitchell Peers (Gilbertsville, Pa./Boyertown), Antonio Rossillo (Warrington, Pa./Archbishop Wood), and Brennan Rozich (Oxford, Pa./Oxford). Peers and Rossillo drove in three of the five runs, the other two scoring on sacrifice flies by Narciso and Wolff.
Indiana eventually scored the winning run in the bottom of the eighth inning on a double to right center.
Sean Furlong earned the win for the Crimson Hawks improving to 2-1 on the year. Dalton Geiger (Leesport, Pa./Schuylkill Valley) took the loss for Kutztown, now 0-3 on the season.
Game Two - Indiana 26, Kutztown 1
IUP jumped out to an early lead in game two scoring four runs on three hits in the bottom of the first. Extending their lead in the second, the Hawks brought five runs across the plate on only two hits in the inning.
The Crimson Hawks scored in all but the bottom of the sixth, scoring 26 runs on 26 hits in the game.
The lone run for the Golden Bears came in the top of the fifth inning on a solo shot by Mike Piscotty (Wilkes-Barre, Pa./Hanover Area) to left field, his first home run of the season.
Tyler Cleveland (Pillow, Pa./Upper Dauphin) took the loss for Kutztown, now 0-1 on the year. Patrick Apgar improves to 2-1.
The Golden Bears are back in action on Friday, April 22, as they head to East Stroudsburg to take on the Warriors at 2:00 p.m.
