MANSFIELD, Pa. –
Jason Wolff (Hillsborough, N.J./Hillsborough) had a career-high 10 RBIs, including nine in game two, as his three-run home run tied the game in the top of the ninth and then
Jimmy Kerley (Indian Trail, N.C./Sun Valley) hit a go-ahead solo home run in the 11th inning to give Kutztown baseball a 14-13 victory in game two of a Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference East Division doubleheader at Shaute Field Saturday.
The Golden Bears (22-13 overall, 9-6 PSAC East) won the series after falling in game two, the opener on Saturday, 8-3.
Wolff went 5-for-9 at the plate with his 10 RBIs and scored three runs.
Ethan Martini (Trevose, Pa./Father Judge), who ranks second in the PSAC in hits with 51, connected on his eighth long ball of the season in the opener, tied for fourth in the conference. He also leads the league with 43 runs scored.
Gavin Moretski (Harleysville, Pa./La Salle College H.S.) earned the victory by throwing the final three innings of the nightcap, not allowing a hit and striking out two for his third win of the season.
Kutztown steps away from conference competition midweek as it travels to take on Chestnut Hill in a non-conference game on Wednesday, April 19, at 6 p.m. The Golden Bears beat the Griffins 16-11 back on March 7, at North Campus Field. KU will then open a PSAC three-game set with the opener at Shippensburg on Friday, April 21, at 2 p.m.
Mansfield 8, Kutztown 3
After an opening game Friday that saw the teams combine for just three runs, Saturday's opener was a bit more high-scoring. Mansfield more than doubled-up Kutztown in the hit category, holding a 14-6 advantage.
The Mounties, who were held to just one run in nine innings yesterday, tripled that output in just their first at-bats, scoring three runs in the bottom of the first on four hits and a walk to put KU into an early hole.
The Golden Bears got on the scoreboard with a second-inning, two-out double from Wolff and then cut their deficit to just one with a leadoff, solo home run from Martini in the top of the third, his eighth long ball of the season, tied for 10th in program history for HRs in a season.
Mansfield, however, did not allow Kutztown to get any closer the rest of the way, tacking on two runs in the bottom-half of the third and then adding three more in the fourth.
Antonio Rossillo's (Warrington, Pa./Archbishop Wood) RBI single in the top of the seventh capped the scoring for KU.
Kutztown 14, Mansfield 13 (11 innings)
After the first two games of the series went two hours or less in length, the concluding game seemed like a marathon, going 3:14, and extra innings.
Kutztown scored the last nine runs of the game unanswered, including five in the top of the eighth and three in the ninth that sent the game to extras. KU trailed 13-5 heading into the eighth before the Golden Bear bats erupted for five runs, highlighted by RBIs from Wolff,
Colin Kelly (Philadelphia, Pa./Father Judge),
Joey Pettinelli (Broomall, Pa./Marple Newtown) and Martini. They still found themselves behind by three runs with just three outs to work with but Kerley singled to left and then
Brennan Rozich (Oxford, Pa./Oxford) worked a walk to put runners at first and second with one out. Wolff then homered to right field on his third pitch he saw to tie the game. KU made sure to leave with a win as Kerley connected on a one-out, solo drive in the 11th for the victory.
