KUTZTOWN, PA (April 8, 2010) – With the weather expected to be seasonal and little cooler than the recent 10 days, the Kutztown University spring sports teams will be busy showcasing their talent in a weekend full of action.
At home, softball will take on Millersville at 2:30 p.m. on Friday in a twinbill. The men and women's tennis teams host the East Stroudsburg Warriors at 11 a.m. on Saturday and later in the day, baseball will challenge arch rival West Chester in a doubleheader showdown at 1 p.m. on North Campus Field while the softball team will host Gannon also beginning at 1 p.m.
BASEBALL
Kutztown (22-6 overall) and West Chester (27-6 overall) will challenge each other in a pair of crucial Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) East doubleheader showdowns beginning on Friday at West Chester. The Golden Rams enter the weekend series with a one-game lead over the Golden Bears in the race for the PSAC regular season crown.
Kutztown will turn to its offensive weapon, Shayne Houck (Boyertown, PA/Boyertown), to help keep its win streak alive. Houck was named again the PSAC East Player of the Week for the second consecutive week, and third time this season. He leads the Golden Bears with 11 home runs, which is one shy of the school record.
Last week, Houck hit .583 (7-for-12) with five runs scored, a double, three home runs and nine runs batted in (RBI) in to help the Golden Bears go 5-1 last week. He had a 1.417 slugging percentage and a .615 on-base percentage. His best performance of the week came in a 13-6 win over Bloomfield in which he had three home runs and seven RBI to almost single-handedly lead the Bears to the win.
Kutztown leads the all-time series, 42-25 over West Chester; however, the Golden Bears have dropped the last three games to the Golden Rams, who won the Atlantic Region last year and advanced to the NCAA Division II College World Series.
SOFTBALL
The Golden Bears are looking at a full weekend, beginning with hosting Millersville in a doubleheader on Friday at 2:30 p.m. and will resume play at home against Gannon in a doubleheader on Saturday at 1 p.m.
The Golden Bears (27-12, 7-3) will look to back on track after dropping their last three games.
Leading the way for the Golden Bears in batting average is Kristen Cornelis (Glen Cove, NY/Glen Cove) (.375). Maria Schiavo (Old Forge, PA/Old Forge) leads the team with 29 runs scored and 43 hits and Nicole Henninger (Reading, PA./Muhlenberg) leads the team with 10 home runs.
Kutztown holds the all-time 61-18 record over Millersville. The Golden Bears have won nine of the last 10 games between the two schools, including a sweep on March 23 at Millersville, 6-5 and 8-6. Henninger slugged four home runs in the doubleheader against the Marauders last month.
MEN'S TENNIS
Kutztown (6-2, 2-0) won its fifth consecutive match by defeating Millersville, 8-1, Wednesday afternoon. Leading the way for Kutztown is Kaushik Das (Guwahati, INDIA/) and Jonathan Goulet, who have combined for 19 victories between them.
WOMEN'S TENNIS
The Golden Bears (7-6, 3-1) enter Saturday's match against East Stroudsburg (9-6, 1-0) after beating Cheyney 8-0 and 6-0 last weekend and Millersville, 6-3 on Tuesday.
In the doubles, the tag team of Ridhima Borooah and Rachel Grula downed their opponents 8-0. Partners Rohini Das and Chelsea White also claimed an 8-0 victory.
In the first singles match, Sabrina Arnaud, Megan Groh , Tess Wright and Das went undefeated, earning an 8-0 victory. In the second contest, Nicole Devine (Orefield/Allentown Central), Das, Borooah, and Groh won their respective singles matches by scores of 6-0, 6-0.
East Stroudsburg enters the 11 a.m. match coming off a 7-2 loss to Bloomsburg.
MEN'S TRACK AND FIELD
Ranked seventh in the first Atlantic Region rankings released by the United States Track & Field and Cross-Country Coaches' Association (USTFCCCA), the men's track and field team will travel to Bucknell Invitational for the two-day event that begins on Friday. Last weekend, at the Sam Howell Invitational hosted by Princeton, Kutztown had three student-athletes (Justin Germani, Jason Rebuck and Kori Meshaw) earn NCAA provisional qualifying standards.
Germani was one of two individual winners for Kutztown. He enjoyed a clearance of 16 feet, 2.75 inches in the pole vault. Jack Iosue won the javelin by tossing it 192-1. The Golden Bears' other NCAA provisional qualifiers were Meshaw, who finished second in the 400-meter hurdles (52.82 seconds) and Rebuck, who finished fourth in the hammer throw (183-09).
WOMEN'S TRACK AND FIELD
The Golden Bears are looking to make their mark at the Bison Invitational this weekend hosted by Bucknell University. The Golden Bears are ranked fourth in the first Atlantic Region rankings released by the United States Track & Field and Cross-Country Coaches' Association (USTFCCCA).
Last weekend the Golden Bears enjoyed a phenomenal performance at the Sam Howell Invitational hosted by Princeton University. Overall, Kutztown had four student-athletes (Cristina Reimer, Kristen Slack, April Doyle and Ashley Pinter) earn NCAA provisional qualifying standards. In addition, Keri Brown and Steph Grimm claimed the top two spots, respectively, in the 3,000-meter run.
In finishing fifth overall in the 3,000-meter steeplechase, Reimer's time of 10 minutes, 53.01 seconds broke Desiree Bower's previous school record of 10:55.36, which was set in 2007. Reimer has been named the PSAC Athlete of the Week. Her performance provisionally qualifies her for the NCAA Division II championship meet. Her time is the fifth best time in Division II and the second best in the PSAC.
Pinter was second overall in the hammer throw (163-6) and was fifth in the shot put (37-9.25). Doyle also had a solid afternoon as her effort of 44-0.75 in the shot put was good enough for a third place finish.
The two-day invitational will begin on Friday at 3 p.m.
WOMEN'S LACROSSE
The Golden Bears will travel to Lock Haven for a 1 p.m. PSAC crossover contest on Saturday. Fueled by their Tuesday performance against undefeated West Chester, Kutztown is looking to make a statement at this weekend's game. In Tuesday's contest, the Golden Bears played a strong first half, which ended with the Golden Bears trailing, fifth-ranked West Chester, 8-7 at halftime. Freshman Jen Dunne (Chalfront, PA/Central Bucks South) leads the Golden Bears with 17 goals. She is one of three players with double digit goals. Lindsay Crits has scored 13 goals, Leann Pica has found the back of the net 12 times and Rachel Mehaffey (Woodbury, NJ/West Deptford) has scored 11 goals for the Golden Bears.
WOMEN'S GOLF
The Golden Bears will be participating in Gannon Invitational on Saturday and Sunday. Last weekend Kutztown won the McDaniel Invitational by one stroke. The first place finish on the Bridge Golf Club was the Golden Bears' first since the 2006-07 season. Mindy Glatfelter finished the two rounds with a 172 (88-84) to place fourth and lead the Golden Bears. Chelsea Corbo was a stroke behind to place tied for fifth with 173.The invitational will take place on the Lakeshore Country Club in Erie, PA at a time yet to be determined.
For complete recaps, features, statistics, please visit www.kubears.com throughout the weekend.
