KUTZTOWN, Pa. – It was a perfect afternoon for baseball at North Campus Field on Friday, and while the Kutztown University baseball team looked to take advantage in a Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference East Division doubleheader, the Shepherd Rams dashed the home team's hopes with 7-0 and 10-6 final tallies both favoring the visitors.
The Golden Bears (13-16, 4-10 PSAC East) couldn't get everything lined up the right way in the games, blowing a solid pitching performance from graduate student
Abel Saft (Kintnersville, Pa./Moravian Academy) in the opening game while responding too little, too late in the nightcap as the Rams (23-12, 10-4 PSAC East) controlled momentum throughout the afternoon.
Game 1: Shepherd 7, Kutztown 0
The Rams opened the day quickly with a solo shot off the bat of the second hitter of the day, and from there, never gave an inch to Kutztown in a shutout win. A pair of fielder's choice plays in the second added to the lead, while a bases-clearing double in the sixth ended a scoring drought and a bases-loaded hit batter put the cherry on top of the day for Shepherd.
Kutztown struggled to find anything, as two batters recorded hits in two separate innings while the team could only muster up three walks off of Gavin Miller (W, 3-4), who pitched a complete game shutout in 100 pitches.
It was bad news for
Abel Saft (Kintnersville, Pa./Moravian Academy) (L, 2-4), who was rolling strong after surrendering the three early runs. He finished the day with six total earned runs, but struck out five Rams in six innings while tossing 102 pitches.
Shepherd's seven runs came on nine hits, while neither team committed an error.
Game 2: Shepherd 10, Kutztown 6
A much more eventful game was played late into the evening, but it was more of the same that haunted the Maroon and Gold.
The game started much differently, as
Bo Barthol (Breinigsville, Pa./Parkland),
Cam Burr (Reading, Pa./Muhlenberg) and
Jared Ferguson (Reinholds, Pa./Cocalico) each crossed the plate in the opening frame for an early, 3-0 advantage. That edge was swiftly erased, however, as seven second-inning runs were sent home by Shepherd. The visitors were able to tack on two more in the third and another time in the fifth.
Kutztown put together a comeback attempt in the sixth, with KU taking advantage of three hit batters to score a trio of runs, two of which came on an
Owen Rector (Nottingham, Pa./Oxford) RBI single with one out, but it wouldn't be enough to overcome the deficit in the end.
Rookie starter
Kooper Zdimal (Morgantown, Pa./Twin Valley) got roughed up in 2.1 innings, allowing six hits and nine runs (five earned) while hurling 61 pitches.
Logan Woodward (Furlong, Pa./Germantown Academy) and
Aidan Myers (Boyertown, Pa./Boyertown) combined to allow one hit across the rest of the game.
Shepherd's Conner Chancey (W, 2-0), the second of the team's five pitchers used in the game, claimed the win after 3.2 innings of shutout baseball, striking out four in the win. The Rams' winning line featured 10 runs on seven hits and a pair of errors, while KU had six runs on five hits and two errors in defeat.
The Golden Bears travel to Shepherdstown, W. Va., for the second half of the four-game PSAC East series at Fairfax Field, with start times at 1:00 and 3:30 p.m. The squad returns to North Campus Field for a non-conference game against Albright College on Tuesday, April 14, with the first pitch set for 3 p.m.
