Bloomsburg Baseball Drops Heartbreaker to #3 Kutztown

KUTZTOWN - Playing against the third ranked team in the country, the Bloomsburg University baseball team had the lead in both games but eventually dropped a doubleheader to Kutztown on Friday afternoon in Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) action. The Huskies fell 3-2 in eight innings in game one and 7-6 in game two.

The Golden Bears struck first in game one using a hit batter and a single to take a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the second inning. Bloomsburg tied it at 1-1 in the top of the fourth when Matt Allen (DuBoistown/So. Williamsport) singled home Kevin Ward (Upper Darby/Monsignor Bonner) who had lead off the inning with a double.

In the top of the sixth, the Huskies took a 2-1 lead when Vinnie James (Bristol/Bristol) doubled and later scored on a single from Ward. However, Kutztown tied the game at 2-2 in the bottom of the seventh and then used a two-hit eight-inning to win the game 3-2.

Ward finished 2-4 with an RBI and a run scored while Allen went 2-3 with an RBI. Dustin Johnson (Sunbury/Shikellemy) pitched seven solid innings allowing two runs on four hits with four strikeouts.

In game two, Kutztown again need some late-game heroics to get the win. Bloomsburg started strong, scoring a run in each of the first three innings. In the first, Preston Hitchcock (Laceyville/Wyalusing Valley) lead off the game with a single and later stole second base. He then advanced to third on a ground-out from Chris Tressler (Lewistown/Lewistown) and scored on a sacrifice fly from James. Andy Bucher (Littlestown/Littlestown) scored a run in the second inning off of a Matt Robinson (York/Red Lion) groundout and then drove Hitchcock home in the top of the third inning.

The Golden Bears tied the score at 3-3 scoring two in the second and then adding a third run in the bottom of the third inning. However, once again, Bloomsburg battled back and scored three runs in the top of the fourth to take a 6-3 lead. Robinson and David Miller (Penn Argyl/Penn Argyl) led off the inning with walks. Robinson scored on a Kutztown error while Miller scored off of a Tressler single. Later in the inning, Hitchcock, who had reached on a fielder's choice, scored on a James single to give Bloomsburg a 6-3 lead.

Kutztown got a run back in the bottom of the fifth inning to make the score 6-4 and then used three hits combined with two walks, one intentional, to score three runs in the bottom of the seventh and win the game 7-6.

James went 2-3 in the game with two RBI. Starting pitcher Casey Markey (York/Dallastown) went six and a third giving up 12 hits allowing six runs, four earned. Michael Griggs (Jersey Shore/Jersey Shore) came on in relief to suffer the loss.

#3 Kutztown moves to 34-3 and 13-1 in the PSAC East while the Huskies fall to 12-23 with a 5-9 record in the PSAC East. Bloomsburg is back in action tomorrow at home taking on Kutztown once again in a doubleheader starting at 1:00 p.m.