Baseball team set for 4 with Bloom

What: Bloomsburg Huskies @ Kutztown Golden Bears
When: Saturday, March 29, 2008 @ 1 p.m. (Doubleheader)
Where: North Campus Field on the campus of Kutztown University
~and~
What: Kutztown Golden Bears @ Bloomsburg Huskies
When: Sunday, March 30, 2008 @ 1 p.m. (Doubleheader)*
Where: Danny Litwhiler Field on the campus of Bloomsburg University
*Originally scheduled for Friday, but was postponed due to potential inclement weather

Game Info
The Golden Bears baseball team will kick off PSAC East action this weekend when they play four games against the Bloomsburg Huskies. The teams will play two in Kutztown on Saturday before heading to Bloomsburg on Sunday afternoon for another doubleheader.

In what has appeared to be a rebuilding season for the defending North Atlantic Region Champion Golden Bears, they enter the game at 10-10 overall and will likely need to claw their way to a PSAC playoff berth this season. They enter the game on the three-game win streak and are fresh off a 13-0 thrashing of Lebanon Valley on Thursday. Last year, KU went 49-7 overall, including 19-1 against the PSAC East, and was ranked first in the nation at one point.

The Huskies enter the game at 5-17, the worst record in the PSAC to this point. They are coming off back-to-back losses to Shippensburg and have dropped 14 of their last 17. Bloomsburg was 19-26 overall in 2007 and 9-11 in PSAC East action.

KU swept last season’s four meetings between the teams. The Golden Bears won 3-2 and 7-6 at home before taking a pair of 5-3 games on the road.

Probable Starting Lineups
Kutztown:
1. Mike Kacelowicz – SS
2. Mark Renda – 3B/2B
3. Chad Lightcap – DH/LF
4. Garrison Rausch – CF
5. Matt Kulbacki – CA
6. Corey Buletza - OF
7. Michael Dugan – 3B/1B
8. Jeff Kistle – RF
9. Brett Wigder – 2B
*6-9 will fluctuate from game to game

Bloomsburg:
1. Preston Hitchcock – 2B
2. Chris Tressler – RF
3. Tony Donofry – 3B
4. Kevin Ward – 1B/DH
5. Rich Letts – CA
6. Carlos Medina – LF
7. Matt Allen – SS
8. Tyler Ganser – 1B/DH or Billy Phillips OF/1B
9. Anthony Forman – CF

Scouting Report
KU manager Chris Blum has featured several different lineups this season and there is no reason to believe that will change as the season goes on. Not one player from last season currently plays the same position in the field and the pitching staff has a completely new look.

The top of the lineup has stayed fairly consistent with Mike Kacelowicz (.316-1-10) leading off every game in 2008. Mark Renda (.284-0-11) is likely to follow with Chad Lightcap (.459-4-18), Garrison Rausch (.140-0-5) and Matt Kulbacki (.291-5-15) filling out the meat of the order.

The second half of the lineup is likely to be different in each of the four games with Corey Buletza (.270-0-10), Michael Dugan (.308-1-7), Jeff Kistle (.208-0-7) [Pictured Above], Brett Wigder (.333-0-12), and Jared Frey (.371-0-4) likely to see a bulk of the action.

Darin Gorski (3-2 3.52), Philip Rummel (3-1 4.81), Rausch (0-1 6.26), and Steve Craig (2-1 5.00) are the only KU pitchers with more than one start under their belt this season and are good bets to get the starting nods this weekend.

The BU offense includes just two regulars hitting over .300 and a combined four homers. Chris Tressler (.314-0-6) leads the team in batting average, with Tony Donofry (.312-1-11) not far behind. Kevin Ward (.280-1-18) is the top RBI guy on the roster, while Carlos Medina (.270-0-12) and Donofry are not far behind. Leadoff man Preston Hitchcock (.253-0-9) hasn’t hit the lights out, but has a team high 16 walks and is 5-of-8 on the base paths.

Similar to KU, the Huskies sport just four pitchers who have made multiple starts this season. Mike Griggs (1-3 4.50), Chris Tressler (2-3 5.46), Chace Phillips (1-3 7.76), and Paul Culbertson (1-1 9.39) are the favorites to start this weekend.

Outlook
The Golden Bears don’t have the dominant team of a year ago, but they are still quite better than the Huskies. With that said, KU will need to come out and take care of business this weekend if they hope to get off on the right foot towards a PSAC playoff berth. BU will be hungry to knock off last season’s regional champion, but KU’s new look team should be up for the challenge. Anything less than wins in three of the four contests would be a disappointment.