KUTZTOWN, Pa - Kutztown University baseball dropped both games of today's doubleheader against Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference foe East Stroudsburg. Game one dominated by pitching on both sides, both starting pitchers going the distance and only 10 hits combined in the contest.
Before the start of game one the Golden Bears honored four of their seniors, Kody Cracknell (Jamison, Pa./Archbishop Wood), Brandon Heere (Reading, Pa./Muhlenberg), Zach Morestki, and Jacoby Pate (Harrisburg, Pa./Susquehanna Township) for their time spent in a Kutztown uniform.
Game One - East Stroudsburg 2, Kutztown 0
Both starting pitchers went the distance, throwing complete games for their respective teams in a close defensive battle. Kutztown starter, Dominic Proietto (Norristown, Pa./Norristown), struck out six batters and gave up seven hits in the contest.
East Stroudsburg scored the only two runs in the game in the top of the second inning. The first two batters reached safely, eventually coming in to score on a defensive error by the Golden Bears, giving the Warriors a 2-0 lead.
Kutztown's bats were kept quiet for most of the game, totaling only three hits. There were three hits in the game, all singles, from Zach Moretski (Harleysville, Pa./La Salle College H.S.), Heere, and Mike Kelly (Schwenksville, Pa./Pope John Paul II).
Ben Francisco earned the win for East Stroudsburg, throwing seven shutout innings, improved to 5-1 on the season. Proietto took the loss for Kutztown, falling to 4-4 on the year.
Game Two - East Stroudsburg 8, Kutztown 3
East Stroudsburg took advantage of a big fifth inning, taking a six-run lead on four hits in the inning. After the first three base runners managed to reach base safely, the Warriors tallied three more hits, two of which went for extra bases.
The East Stroudsburg lead continued to grow in the top of the seventh on a two-run home run by Anthony Torreullas. The Warriors held onto an 8-0 lead until the bottom of the ninth.
The Golden Bears led off the inning with singles from Brennan Rozich (Oxford, Pa./Oxford) and Pate. Cole Regn (Berlin, N.J./Eastern Regional) managed to draw a walk to load the bases with no outs in the inning. Rozich came in to score on a fielder's choice to shortstop by Kelly. Two more runs came in to score on a single through the right side by Austin Gromlich (Hamburg, Pa./Hamburg).
The Golden Bears tallied 11 hits by seven different players. Pate, Rozich and Kelly led the offense with multi-hit games. Jason Wolff's (Hillsborough, N.J./Hillsborough) double in the bottom of the fourth was Kutztown's only extra base hit in the game.
Zach Male (Royersford, Pa./Spring-Ford) took the loss for the Maroon and Gold, falling to 1-9 on the season. Tom Reisinger improves to 5-3 on the year, earning the win in the night cap.
Kutztown is back home for a doubleheader against the University of the Sciences on Wednesday, April 27, at 1:00 p.m.
