CARY, N.C. – The Kutztown University baseball team kicked off its 2026 season with a pair of games against the Slippery Rock University baseball team at the USA Baseball National Training Complex on Friday afternoon in North Carolina.
The Golden Bears (0-2 overall) fell to The Rock (2-0), 10-3 in the first game before dropping the rubber match, 4-3, in the first half of its four-game series against a trio of teams in Cary.
Game 1: Slippery Rock 10, Kutztown 3
Redshirt senior righty
Abel Saft (Kintnersville, Pa./Moravian Academy) took the mound to open the season, getting off to a strong start with three innings of one-run ball and granting the Golden Bears a 3-1 advantage thanks to a first-inning response by infielder
Nick Varda (Columbia, Md./Atholton) and a second-inning, two-run blast by leadoff man
Bo Barthol (Breinigsville, Pa./Parkland).
Despite the early success, The Rock forced six runs on KU in the fourth inning, forcing the squad to turn to the bullpen to settle things down. Two-way player Zach Wertman came in for the final three innings, allowing just one hit and one earned run on the back end of the game.
Saft (L, 0-1) took the loss, allowing seven runs (three earned) on four hits while striking out one. Eight KU batters had a hit in the early matchup, while Barthol,
Michael Burns (Levittown, Pa./Harry S. Truman) and
Dalton Furst (Kutztown, Pa./Kutztown) each crossed the plate as Kutztown's marks on the scoreboard.
Starter Nate Malak (W, 1-0) of SRU went five innings and struck out three to secure the team's season-opening win.
Game 2: Slippery Rock 4, Kutztown 3
Head coach
Eric Folmar shifted the lineup to include some newer faces in the evening game, a move that featured East Stroudsburg transfer outfielder
Joel Bonner (Hulmeville, Pa./Neshaminy), Golden West (Calif.) transfer
Cain Lusic (San Pedro, Calif./San Pedro), and rookie northpaw
Kooper Zdimal (Morgantown, Pa./Twin Valley).
After three innings of back-and-forth blows between the two Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference opponents, it was silent for three and a half innings, as both pitchers held their ground while the team's defenses did the same behind their reliable hurlers. In the end, The Rock had the last chance to punch, finishing things off with a bases-loaded, RBI single to walk things off with one out in the seventh inning.
Right fielder
Jared Ferguson (Reinholds, Pa./Cocalico) had a team-high three hits and an RBI to open Kutztown's scoring, while Bonner went 2-for-3 with a second-inning solo home run to give KU a 3-0 lead in the top of the second inning.
On the mound, Zdimal had a strong five-plus innings for Kutztown, striking out three and allowing just three runs in a no-decision. He settled in for 3.2 scoreless innings on the back half of his debut outing, leaving the game with the score tied at 3. Sophomore
Jeremy Fallon (Souderton, Pa./Souderton) (0-1) came in to relieve the rookie starter, but surrendered the go-ahead run in his two-thirds of an inning.
Reliever Mark Wilbur (W, 1-0) went two innings and struck out two to secure the opposing victory for SRU.
The Golden Bears will continue its search for a win in one of its next two games on the weekend, as it faces the Goldey Beacom Lightning on Saturday, Feb. 21, at 3 p.m., before wrapping up its stay down south against the Frostburg State Bobcats on Sunday, Feb. 22, at 1 p.m.
