[Kutztown Press Release] NO. 21 KU PICKED TO FINISH FIRST IN PSAC EAST IN PRESEASON COACHES POLL

[Leiboff, Joshua]

February 13, 2008
No. 21 KU picked to finish first in PSAC East in preseason coaches poll
KUTZTOWN, Pa.- The Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference softball coaches have chosen Kutztown as the favorite to win the PSAC East in the 2008 softball season.
The Golden Bears were picked to finish ahead of No. 12 Bloomsburg, East Stroudsburg, Shippensburg, Millersville, Mansfield and West Chester, respectively.
Kutztown looks to repeat as PSAC East Champions as it is coming off of a 22-2 PSAC record.  Kutztown was defeated in the PSAC Tournament by Lock Haven but the Golden Bears are poised and reloaded as they look to build on their 2007 PSAC East campaign and avenge last season's loss to the Lady Eagles.  Kutztown owned the conference's best offense last season.  The Golden Bear offense posted a .349 team batting average while scoring 416 runs in 61 games.
The Golden Bears are led by the PSAC Eastern Division Player of the Year and All-American Steph Denlinger (jr. Harleysville/Souderton) and Eastern Division Pitcher of the Year Katlin Arbogast (so. Ambler/Wissahickon). Denlinger put together an incredible sophomore season as she hit a conference-high .507, which was .92 points better than any other player in the league last season, and scored a conference-high 70 runs, 24 home runs, and 73 runs batted in.  Junior All-American Ashley Fitzgerald (jr. Kitchener, ONTARIO/Resurrection) will re-join Denlinger in the Golden Bears lineup and had 76 hits and 131 total bases a year ago.
Arbogast will lead Kutztown's defense as she attempts to match or better her incredible freshman season in which she compiled a 27-9 record.  She set Kutztown records in wins, strikeouts (287) and complete games (29) while tossing 249.1 innings to go along with a 1.87 ERA in 40 appearances.  The Golden Bear defense posted a .957 fielding percentage as they backed Arbogast.
KU started off their 2008 campaign on a strong note this past weekend as they traveled to Aiken, S.C., and defeated No. 3 Columbus State University and No. 23 Georgia College & State University, both by the score of 4-2. KU also defeated USC-Pembroke and host squad USC-Aiken, while falling to Augusta State 3-2.
Starring at the plate for KU in the tournament were Fitzgerald and Maria Schiavo (so. Old Forge/Old Forge). Fitzgerald was 6-of-14 with a double, a homer and two RBI's, while Schiavo was 5-of-15 from the dish with a double and three RBI's.
Two hurlers won two games on the tournament for KU, as Monica Glomb (fr. Mars/Mars) made her first collegiate appearances, throwing 14 innings, while allowing 13 hits and striking out seven. Arbogast also started the year off well, picking up two victories, (one in relief) while hurling 12.1 innings, allowing only three runs and striking out 21.
The Golden Bears will next be in action Feb. 29 when they travel to Salisbury, N.C., for the Catawba University Tournament.
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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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