LOCK HAVEN, Pa. – The Kutztown University baseball team was voted as the seventh-best team in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference East Division by its coaches in the preseason poll, the conference announced Thursday.
Head coach
Eric Folmar is entering his seventh season at the helm of the Golden Bears baseball program, and he will look to a group of six freshmen and five transfer players to revitalize both sides of the ball.
The 2025 edition of the team posted a 14-33 mark that included 10 wins at North Campus Field and a 7-21 record in PSAC play. The Golden Bears won a pair of nonconference series against Lincoln and Saint Michael's, while splitting a trio of PSAC meetings against Bloomsburg, Mansfield and Shepherd.
The Maroon and Gold returns its junior All-PSACÂ Second Team tandem from a season ago, as outfielder
Bo Barthol (Breinigsville, Pa./Parkland) and designated hitter
Jared Ferguson (Reinholds, Pa./Cocalico) held batting averages around .350 while each playing in over 40 games on the year. Redshirt senior shortstop
Nick Varda (Columbia, Md./Atholton) and senior catcher
Michael Burns (Levittown, Pa./Harry S. Truman) both return as well, giving Kutztown a strong core to build its offense and defensive units around this season.
On the mound, the team will go through a massive overhaul, as two of its three qualified starters and four of the team's most used front of the line pitchers all departed, providing a new look rotation led by junior
Kannon Zdimal (Morgantown, Pa./Twin Valley).
The East Division is led by NCAA Atlantic Region Champion East Stroudsburg and PSAC Tournament Champion Millersville, who combined to claim all eight first-place votes. The West Division is led by Seton Hill and Slippery Rock, both of whom collected the eight first-place votes from the coaches.
The 2026 campaign opens with a non-conference doubleheader against Slippery Rock at the USA Baseball National Training Complex in Cary, N.C., on Friday, Feb. 21. The Golden Bears return home to face Lincoln (Pa.) in a doubleheader on Wednesday, Mar. 4, at 12:00 and 2:30 p.m. at North Campus Baseball Field. The season concludes with the PSAC Championship at Jack Critchfield Park in Slippery Rock, Pa., which takes place Wednesday, May 6, through Saturday, May 9.
East Division (first place votes)
1. East Stroudsburg (6)
2. Millersville (2)
3. West Chester
4. Shippensburg
5. Shepherd
6. Bloomsburg
7. Kutztown
8. Mansfield
West Division (first place votes)
1. Seton Hill (6)
2. Slippery Rock (2)
3. IUP
4. California
5. Gannon
6. Clarion
7. Pitt-Johnstown
8. Lock Haven
