[Kutztown Press Release] KUTZTOWN BASEBALL LOOKING TO DEFEND PSAC TITLE

Wed May 2 12:48:28 EDT 2007

May 1, 2007 

KUTZTOWN BASEBALL LOOKING TO DEFEND PSAC TITLE 

KUTZTOWN, PA - The Kutztown University baseball team is headed to Slippery Rock, PA, for the 2007 Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Playoffs this Wednesday-through-Saturday, May 2-5. 

The #1 team in Division II and the two-time defending PSAC champions, the Golden Bears are the first seed from the PSAC East.  KU will open the tournament against the PSAC West's #3 seed, Shippensburg on Thursday at 9:00 AM, in the six-team, double-elimination tournament.  The tournament will take place at Jack Critchfield Park on the campus of Slippery Rock.  This is the third year of the six-team format.  At stake in the tournament is the PSAC's automatic berth in the NCAA Division II Championship.

The number two seeds, Slippery Rock and West Chester, will begin the tournament on Wednesday (Today) at 4:00 PM.  California (PA), the number one seed from the west, will face East Stroudsburg, the number three seed from the east, at 7:00 PM Wednesday.  

If KU defeats Shippensburg, the Golden Bears would face the loser between California and East Stroudsburg at 6:00 PM Thursday.  If Kutztown would lose, it would play the loser of the Slippery Rock / West Chester game at 3:00 PM Thursday.

The rest of the tournament schedule is determined by how many teams remain after the first full day of games.  Contests resume at noon on Friday and continue through Saturday's championship round.  Tickets are $7 for adults, $2 for students and PSAC students will be admitted free with a valid ID.  

             Kutztown has qualified for the PSAC Playoffs in each of the past four seasons, and in eight of the last 11 years.  In the last nine years, the Golden Bears have won the PSAC title in 1999, 2002, 2005 and 2006, while placing second in 2001 and 2004.  KU's first-ever PSAC title came 41 years ago in 1966. 

            KU will enter the PSAC tournament as the #1 ranked team in Division II, as well as the top ranked team in the North Atlantic Region, with a record of 44-3 overall, finishing 19-1 in the PSAC East.  KU's 44 wins match the program's single-season record for victories, set last year.

            KU is under the direction of fifth-year head coach Chris Blum, who has a career record of 189-66.  

             The Golden Bears enter the championship tournament with a balanced offensive attack and a deep pitching corps.  Kutztown has a .324 team batting average and leads the PSAC with a 3.30 team earned-run average.

            Starting pitchers Darin Gorski (fr. Mount Joy/Donegal), Matt Keller (sr. Fleetwood/Fleetwood), Jason Mills (sr. Hatfield/North Penn), Mike McCardell (sr. West Chester/Henderson) and Philip Rummel (jr. Exeter/West-Mont Christian) comprise Kutztown's rotation. 

            Gorski is 4-0, with a 2.54 earned run average and 35 strikeouts in 39.0 innings pitched.  He also has two saves.  Keller sports a 4-1 record, with a 4.81 ERA and 43 strikeouts in 39.1 innings.  Mills is 6-0, with a 1.37 ERA and 40 strikeouts in 46.0 innings.   McCardell pulls double duty as a starter and closer.  He has started four of his 17 appearances, most in the PSAC, and is 6-1 with a 1.12 ERA and 53 strikeouts in 40.1 innings.  He also has four saves.  McCardell and Mills are 1-2 in the PSAC in ERA.  Rummel is 7-1 with an ERA of 5.17.  He is tied for the most wins in the PSAC.

           Rounding out KU's pitching staff are Ryan Cassidy (fr. Langhorne/Archbishop Wood) (2-0, 1.83), Justin Jachowicz (jr. Summit Hill/Panther Valley) (2-0, 2.66), Ryan Loper (sr. Boiling Springs/Cumberland Valley) (6-0, 3.65), Garrison Rausch (jr. Allentown/Parkland) (4-0, 1.53 ERA), and Derek Reis (jr. Jim Thorpe/Jim Thorpe) (2-0, 3.76 ERA).

            Loper, the starting center fielder, is hitting .354 with 28 runs, 29 RBI and four home runs.   He became the second KU baseball player to play in 200 games and achieve 200 hits this season.  Fellow outfielder Jeff Craig (sr. Wilkes-Barre/Bishop Hoban) hits .353 with a team-leading five home runs, 33 runs and PSAC leading 49 RBI.  Dan Gavlick (sr. Medford, NJ/Shawnee), Chad Lightcap (so. Boyertown/Boyertown) and Rausch rotate KU's third outfielder.  Gavlick is hitting .300, with 20 RBI and 23 runs scored, while Lightcap is hitting .414 with 37 RBI and four homers. Rausch his .310 with two homers and 13 RBI.  Bryan Riggins (jr. Glensmoore/Downingtown West) also sees time in the outfield.

            McCardell anchors the infield when he's not pitching. The senior, who plays at both first and third base, is hitting .373 with 25 RBI and four home runs, including two home runs against West Chester.  Nate Kranz (so. Silver Spring/Cumberland Valley) splits his time between shortstop and third base.   Kranz is hitting .373 with 24 RBI.  He has been hit by pitches a PSAC-high 19 times this season.  

            Sean Bond (sr. Malvern/Great Valley) plays the middle infield and Mills is at shortstop when he's not pitching.  Bond, who transferred from West Chester this season, is hitting .353 as the leadoff man.  He ranks second in the PSAC in walks, getting 30 free passes this season.  He has scored 38 runs and driven in 24.

            Matt Dierolf (jr. Boyertown/Boyertown) and Matt Kulbacki (fr. Hershey/Hershey) platoon at catcher.  Dierolf is hitting .286, while Kulbacki is hitting .431 with 10 RBI.  

Kutztown's first-round opponent is Shippensburg. Kutztown was 1-0 against Shippensburg in the regular season. The Raiders are coached by first year head coach, Matt Jones and enter the tournament 23-21, 13-7 in the PSAC West.  Center fielder Justin Garber leads the team with a .386 average, with 56 hits and has 32.  Tyler Redick is hitting .354 with three homers and 22 RBI.  Ross Buckwalter (5-2, 3.23 ERA, 51 K, 69.2 IP) and Matt Wright (5-2, 2.47 ERA, 80 K in 62.0 IP) anchor the pitching staff.

The other PSAC Championship participants are:

            California - West #1 - Cal, #1 in the west, is the #2 team in the North Atlantic Region. Under direction of head coach Mike Conte, California has a 33-13 record this season.  The Vulcans are led by Lee Rohan, who is batting .419 with 13 RBI and 42 runs scored.  Jeremy Potter has a .364 average.  Dustin Woodring and Chris Novia each have a team-leading six home runs.  Chris Doerschner is 7-1 this season in nine appearances.  In 50.1 innings pitched, he has struck out 44.

            Slippery Rock - West #2 - SRU is the #2 seed in the west.  Head coach Jeff Messer led Slippery Rock to a 31-13 season, 14-6 in the division.  Matt Adams is batting .415 with 27 RBI and four homers.  Jacob Oswalt has a .407 batting average with 20 runs scored.  Rich Hocanson has a 5-0 record with pitching 35.0 innings.  In seven appearances, he has struck out 28.

            West Chester - East #2 - WCU enters the tournament as the #2 seed in the east.  Head coach Greg Mamula has led the Golden Rams to a 30-13 season, 13-7 in the PSAC East.  Drew Pare is hitting .429 with eight home runs and 41 RBI.  The Golden Rams pitching staff has three pitchers with five wins ad two with four.  Frank Gailey is 5-2 in 11 appearances.  In 50.0 innings pitched, he has struck out 53 batters.  

            East Stroudsburg - East #3 - ESU is the #3 team in the east with a 22-20 mark, 9-11 in the division.  ESU is coached by WedDell Bolar.  Jacob De Boer is hitting .386 with 47 runs and 21 RBI.  Kyle Schaeffer is batting .377 with five home runs and 30 RBI.  Anthony Clemens had made 16 appearances for the Warriors.  Ronald Manning leads the team with four wins.            

            Complete Kutztown results and links to live Webcasts provided Slippery Rock University will be available at kubears.com.

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Josh Leiboff
Kutztown University Sports Information
Phone: (610) 683-4182
Fax: (610) 683-4676
Email: leiboff at kutztown.edu
Website: http://www.kubears.com
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