STROUDSBURG, Pa. – The Kutztown University baseball team finished its 2026 season on Friday afternoon, falling to the East Stroudsburg Warriors, 7-2 and 9-3 in a Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference East Division doubleheader at Creekview Park.
The Golden Bears (16-29, 6-22 PSAC East) struggled to find momentum as it headed into the last two games of the season, and after the performance on the big stage on Thursday at Coca-Cola Park, the Warriors (35-13, 21-7 PSAC East) won its fifth straight game as it looks forward to postseason competition later this month.
Game 1: East Stroudsburg 7, Kutztown 2
It was silent for the early portion of the game, with an ESU run being the lone tally through the first three innings.
Kannon Zdimal (Morgantown, Pa./Twin Valley) (L, 4-6) played a role in silencing some of the Warriors' bats, but his complete game, 107 pitch effort wasn't enough in the end.
Kutztown responded to the early ESU score with a pair of its own to take a 2-1 lead into the middle of the fourth, as
Joel Bonner (Hulmeville, Pa./Neshaminy) slapped an RBI single into left field to send home
Jared Ferguson (Reinholds, Pa./Cocalico), while the sophomore outfielder later crossed the plate on a
Dalton Furst (Kutztown, Pa./Kutztown) base knock.
East Stroudsburg, with starter Evan Hughes (W, 7-2) pushing 80 pitches after four innings, backed up its guy with four runs in the bottom of the frame to go ahead, 5-2, a lead it would hold for good. A sixth-inning two-run homer helped pad the lead as Caden Leonard (SV, 1) collected a three-inning save while striking out four.
Designated hitter
Jared Ferguson (Reinholds, Pa./Cocalico) reached on a pair of walks, while Furst also reached a second time on a walk in addition to his fourth-inning RBI. The Golden Bears had two runs on five hits, while ESU scored its seven runs on 10 hits.
Game 2: East Stroudsburg 9, Kutztown 3
The Maroon and Gold couldn't muster up much in the final game of the series, letting up three early runs and struggling in a five-run fifth inning in defeat.
Kutztown had a fourth-inning tally that was ignited by a
Zack Wertman (Mifflinburg, Pa./Mifflinburg) double, moving Furst, who had walked earlier in the inning, to third with no one out. He came around to score on a
Preston Warne (Nazareth, Pa./Nazareth) groundout, but nothing more came from there.
After a rocky fifth inning put Kutztown's back against the wall, it started a bit of a scoring spree in the seventh, as offensive substitutions
Zach Tropiano (Springfield, Pa./Springfield) and
Shane Rosenberry (Reading, Pa./Muhlenberg) crossed the plate on RBI groundouts. However, it was too little, too late for Kutztown, as the two runs would be the only momentum the squad had in the late game.
Golden Bear season hit leader
Bo Barthol (Breinigsville, Pa./Parkland) had a 2-for-3 showing, while both Furst and second baseman
Cam Burr (Reading, Pa./Muhlenberg) added three walks each, taking advantage of the Warriors' eight total walks.
The starting pitchers claimed both decisions at the end of the day, as ESU's Peyton Braddok (W, 5-3) used five innings of one-run ball to outduel senior
Eddie Frye (Lorton, Va./South County) (L, 1-6). East Stroudsburg won with nine runs on eight hits, while Kutztown fell after putting up three runs with five hits.
The Golden Bears will look to take the next step with an improved team in 2027, as it will be replacing key players, including starting pitcher
Abel Saft (Kintnersville, Pa./Moravian Academy), shortstop
Nick Varda (Columbia, Md./Atholton) and catcher
Michael Burns (Levittown, Pa./Harry S. Truman). The team hopes to return a number of impactful players, namely Barthol, Burr, and Ferguson, amongst others. The Golden Bears finished its 2026 campaign with a winning non-conference record for the first time in three seasons, while it improved on its road record from a season ago.
