Baseball - 2004 PSAC Championships

last updated 03/25/08 08:42 AM

• Tournament Preview
• In-game updates: call Golden Bear Hotline at 610-683-1515, option 1, for inning-by-inning updates during each Kutztown game.
• KU Results (below)

Game 1 KU vs. Shippensburg - Thursday at 3:30 PM

Shippensburg (42-8) 4

Kutztown (32-13) 3  (11 innings) 

STATE COLLEGE, PA – Josh Bell’s bloop single in the 11^th inning drove in Jeremy Hess for the game-winning run as Shippensburg defeated Kutztown, 4-3, in the first game of the Pennsyvlania State Athletic Conference Playoffs. 

The score was tied 2-2 after nine innings, with both teams scoring in the 10th.  Kyle Costello's RBI double gave KU a 3-2 lead in the top half of the inning, but Shippensburg answered with an RBI single by Scott Kintz.

Hess was hit in the helmet to lead off the 11th, when two batters later Bell blooped a single over short stop and Hess scored easily.

The first nine innings was a pitchers' dual between Ship's Evan Engelbrook and KU's Donny Langdon.  Englebrook pitched 10 innings, allowing three runs with nine strikeouts.  Langdon struck out 10 over seven innings, allowing two runs, one earned.  T.C. Senseney pitched a scoreless 10th to pick up the win, while Matt Keller was the losing pitcher, throwing the final 1.1 innings.

Kutztown now drops to the loser's bracket, and will face Mansfield, who lost to California (PA) Thursday night, 12-5.  Game time will be Friday at 12 :00 PM. The loser of that game will be knocked out of the double elimination tournament.

  Game 3 -Kutztown vs. Mansfield - 12:00 PM Friday

Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Baseball Playoffs
State College, PA
Friday, April 30, 2004

Kutztown 12, Mansfield 8

STATE COLLEGE, PA – Kutztown’s Clay Kuklick and Ryan Loper each at four hits to lead Kutztown to a 12-8 win over Mansfield, and stay alive in game three of the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Playoffs. 

            With both teams facing elimination in the double-elimination tournament, KU jumped out to a 7-0 lead after three innings.  KU scored three times in the first, three in the second and one in the third.  

            KU hurler Matt Haverly cruised through three perfect innings, but the first batter of the fourth hit a high chopper to short third.  Haverly fielded the ball and fired to first, but turned his ankle on the play and Josh Rearick was safe at first.  Haverly was clearly affected by the injury, allowing three more hits.  A trio of KU errors helped Mansfield to score six runs in the inning.  Matt Keller relieved Haverly with one out, and ended MU’s rally. 

            KU answered right back with three runs in the fourth, with Greg Rada driving in a run on a groundout, Loper scoring on and error and Kyle Costello scoring on a passed ball. 

            Keller cruised to the ninth, by which time KU opened a 12-6 lead on a Kuklick homer in the seventh and an RBI groundout by P.J. Gallo in the eighth.

            Mansfield mounted a two-out rally in the ninth, with two runs scoring on Matt Mills’ double.  Mike McCardell relieved Keller and struck out Brett Shockloss for last out and the save.           

            Keller got the win to improve to 6-3.  Dan Yoder took the loss for Mansfield (5-3).  

            Kuklick was 4-for-5 with four runs, Loper was 4-for-4 with four runs and two RBI.  Costello was 2-fro-4 with two RBI, while Josh Fink was 2-for-4.        

Game 5 Kutztown vs. Shippensburg - 7:00 PM Friday

Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Baseball Playoffs

Friday, April 30, 2004 

Game 5: Kutztown (34-13) 8, Shippensburg (42-10) 4 

STATE COLLEGE, PA – Mike McCardell was 2-for-4 with three RBI and pitched two scoreless innings of relief to lead Kutztown to an 8-4 win over Shippensburg in game five of the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Playoffs. 

            Shippensburg, which lost to California (PA) , 2-1, in game four, is eliminated from the tournament.  Kutztown advances to face California in the championship round, beginning at noon on Saturday.  KU must defeat Cal twice on Saturday to win the title, as the Vulcans have not lost in the tournament yet.  

            Kyle Sadlowski pitched into the seventh inning, scattering nine hits, to get the win.  He is now 6-1.  Shippensburg had runners in scoring position in each of the innings Sadlowski pitched, but only crossed the plate twice against him. 

            McCardell blasted a two-run home run off the scoreboard in the first inning, after John Yearsley belted an RBI double for KU’s three-run first inning. 

            In the fourth, Ryan Loper doubled and later scored when Shippensburg committed an error after a sacrifice bunt.  

            Shippensburg cut the lead to 4-1 in the fifth on an RBI double by Jared Krebs, but KU answered right back, scoring twice in the bottom of the fifth.  John Yearsley’s squeeze but scored Josh Fink, then McCardell ripped a single to drive in Paul Koropchak.  

            Sadlowski ran into trouble in the seventh, on a hit-by-pitch and walk.  McCardell relieved him, but Ship got an RBI single by Andy Dangler to make it 6-2.  McCardell, though, ended the threat getting Jared Boger to ground into a double play. 

            Kutztown added two insurance runs in the eighth.  P.J. Gallo laced an RBI triple, then scored after he was caught in a run down trying to score on a wild pitch.  

            Shippensburg scored twice in the ninth off reliever Marshall Mirarchi, but KU’s lead was already secure. 

            Clay Kuklick and Koropchak had two hits each for KU.            

            Kutztown has won the PSAC title in 1966, 1999 and 2002.  The Vulcans have just one PSAC title in 1979.            

Game 6: Kutztown vs. California (PA) - Saturday, noon

California (PA) 18, Kutztown 12

Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Baseball Championships
Saturday, May 1, 2004

Game 6: California (PA) 18, Kutztown 12

STATE COLLEGE, PA -- California (PA) won its first Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Championship in 25 years, defeating Kutztown, 18-12, in game six of the PSAC playoffs at the Shaner Sports Complex.

California, which got to the championship round by defeating Mansfield and Shippensburg in its first two games, improves to 32-21-1 with the win.  Kutztown, who bounced back from an opening round loss to Shippensburg to defeat Mansfield and Shippensburg in elimination games, falls to 34-14 with the loss.

The Vulcans jumped out to a five-run lead in the first inning off KU starter Rob McCuen, who was making his first start in more than two weeks while nursing an elbow injury.  Cal had three hits in the inning and took advantage of three Kutztown errors to jump ahead.  The first of the errors, by short stop Gary Stricker, opened the gate for all five of the runs to be unearned.

In the top of the second, Stricker found redemption, blasting a three-run homer.  Clay Kuklick followed with a solo shot to center to make it 5-4. 

California scored four times in the third off KU reliever Kevin Langan, who took over for McCuen in the second.  KU answered in the fifth with a run on a wild pitch and an RBI groundout by Paul Koropchak to make it 9-6.  The rally chased starter Ryan Campbell, who gave way to Chris Doerschner. 

The rally was short-lived, as the Vulcans scored nine runs over the next two innings, including a two-run homer by Patrick Sadler, to make it 18-6.

Kutztown refused to give up, pushing a run across in the seventh, four more in the eighth and one in the ninth, but the deficit was too much to overcome.

Kutztown was led by Stricker, who was 2-for-3 with two runs and three RBI.  Kyle Kaschak had two RBI singles in the late innings, while Koropchak drove in two runs and Clay Kuklick scored twice.  Kyle Costello was 2-for-3. 

Mike Larson was 4-for-6 with two runs and two RBI for Cal, while Jason Smith was 3-for-6 wiht four runs and three batted in. 

Doershchner was the winning pitcher, tossing 2.1.  He is 3-2.  McCuen was the losing pticher, he falls to 5-2.

Kutztown failed in its bid to win a fourth PSAC title.  The Golden Bears have advanced to the championship round of the tournament in four of the last six years - all four times they have qualified for the tournament in that span.

Both teams await a berth to the four-team NCAA North-Atlantic Regional tournament, to be held at the highest regional seed May 13-15.  Kutztown is ranked #3 in the most recent regional poll, behind Shippensburg and West Virginia State.  California is #6, behind Mansfield and West Chester.  There are no automatic bids for conference championship.  The selections for the Regionals will be announced Monday, May 10.

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