KUTZTOWN, Pa. -- On the back of some dominant pitching from the Golden Bears' rotation, the Kutztown University baseball team (12-8, 0-3 PSAC East) swept non-conference foe Caldwell (6-7, 0-0 CACC) in a doubleheader at North Campus Field Tuesday afternoon.
KU captured a 6-3 win in the first game, before cruising to a 10-1 victory in game two. Cody Barberio (Green Lane, Pa./Quakertown), Gavin Grande (Newtown Square, Pa./Malvern Prep), Trevor Leverington (Kutztown, Pa./Kutztown), Tyler Cleveland (Pillow, Pa./Upper Dauphin), and Dalton Geiger (Leesport, Pa./Schuylkill Valley) all saw action on the bump for the Golden Bears and allowed a combined seven hits and four earned runs over the two games. KU's bats also came to play, with five different Golden Bears having multi-RBI days.
Kutztown is back in PSAC East action this weekend with a series against Lock Haven. The teams match up in Lock Haven on Friday, March 24 at 2 p.m., before returning to North Campus Field on Saturday, March 25 for a doubleheader starting at noon.Â
Game 1: Kutztown 6, Caldwell 3
The Golden Bears got the scoring going early in game one, with Jason Wolff (Hillsborough, N.J./Hillsborough) hitting an RBI single in the bottom of the first to make it 1-0.Â
Cody Barberio (Green Lane, Pa./Quakertown) found himself in some trouble in the top of the third, loading the bases with no outs. The Cougars were able to notch a run, but Barberio weathered the storm, striking out Zach Saunders and getting Kyle Richards to ground out for a big final two outs to escape with the score knotted at 1-1.Â
The Golden Bears captured the lead right back in the bottom half of the inning. Wolff knocked home his second RBI of the game before a Dominic Proietto (Norristown, Pa./Norristown) RBI single made it 3-1 KU after three. Caldwell kept it interesting through a Malik Little home run in the top of the fourth, which made it 3-2.Â
KU responded yet again in the next half-inning. A two-RBI double from Antonio Rossillo (Warrington, Pa./Archbishop Wood) and an RBI single from Gavin Moretski (Harleysville, Pa./La Salle College H.S.) on back-to-back at-bats quickly made it 6-2 KU. Gavin Grande (Newtown Square, Pa./Malvern Prep) entered the game a half inning later and put Caldwell down 1-2-3. The Cougars put another run across in the top of the sixth, but another 1-2-3 frame from Grande in the top of the seventh was the cherry on top, as the Golden Bears held on for the 6-3 win.Â
On the mound, Barberio went four innings, allowing four hits and two earned runs while striking out four. He earned the win, while Chris Coleman took the loss for the Cougars. Grande went three innings in relief, allowing only one hit and one earned run while striking out four. He was awarded the save.Â
At the plate, Wolff and Rossillo both went 1-for-3 with two RBI, while Moretski and Proietto both went 2-for-3 with one RBI. Ethan Martini (Trevose, Pa./Father Judge), Mitchell Peers (Gilbertsville, Pa./Boyertown), and Jimmy Kerley (Indian Trail, N.C./Sun Valley) were the other Golden Bears with a hit in game one.
Game 2: Kutztown 10, Caldwell 1
The Cougars struck first in game two, plating a run in the top of the first to make it 1-0. Similar to game one, the Golden Bears responded right away. Back-to-back sacrifice flies from Mitchell Peers (Gilbertsville, Pa./Boyertown) and Dominic Proietto (Norristown, Pa./Norristown) made it 2-1 KU after one.
RBI hits from Ethan Martini (Trevose, Pa./Father Judge) and Jimmy Kerley (Indian Trail, N.C./Sun Valley) in the bottom of the second extended the KU lead to 5-2 after two. Starter Trevor Leverington (Kutztown, Pa./Kutztown) settled in during the second and third frames, striking out three and allowing one base runner in those two innings. Two more runs came in the third inning for KU from a Brennan Rozich (Oxford, Pa./Oxford) RBI single and a Zach Tropiano (Springfield, Pa./Springfield) sacrifice fly to make it 7-1.
Tyler Cleveland (Pillow, Pa./Upper Dauphin) took the mound for Kutztown in the top of the fourth and went 1-2-3, striking out all three Cougars. Another two runs came for the Golden Bears in the bottom half of the inning through a two-RBI single from Gavin Moretski (Harleysville, Pa./La Salle College H.S.) to make it 9-1. Cleveland had another solid inning in the fifth, allowing one base runner and recording his fourth strikeout to retire the side.
Dalton Geiger (Leesport, Pa./Schuylkill Valley) entered the game in the top of the sixth inning. The senior from Leesport, Pa. faced six Cougars and retired all six to close out the game. Another RBI from Rozich in the bottom of the sixth was the final run for KU in its 10-1 victory.Â
Leverington was awarded the win for Kutztown, going three innings, allowing two hits and one earned run while striking out four. Cleveland and Geiger pitched a combined four innings and allowed no hits. Danny Keane took the loss for Caldwell.
At the plate, Martini, Morestski, and Rozich both had two hits and two RBI. Kerley, Peers, Proietto, and Tropiano all had an RBI in the win.Â
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