Analyzing The Hitting

Mark Renda

You might recall the projections I made for the 2009 KU baseball season based on advanced stats. How are they looking, you ask? Depends on how you look at it. Some of them appear to be not even close, while others are right on the money. The big difference maker (as is always the case) is Batting Average on Balls In Play (BABIP). A high one will inflate a hitter’s numbers, while a low one will distort them to the lower end of the spectrum. Generally, BABIP will revert close to the player’s average, but since most of these players will see less than 500 career at-bats, sample size is an obvious problem.

That all being said, BABIP is something we can look at to see what is probably going to happen as the season wears on. Since we are almost exactly halfway through the season, now is as good a time as any to take a look at a few of the team’s every day players.

Chad Lightcap – In his senior season, Lightcap is struggling to live up to the impressive numbers he put up the last three years. After notching a 1.013 and 1.050 OPS the last two seasons, respectively, he sits at .964 through 73 at-bats in 2009. The most notable area where has struggled is the strikeout department. After improving his K-rate from 17.4% in 2007 to 12.6% last season, it has ballooned to a whopping 28.8% so far this year.

Fortunately for KU fans, there is still a lot to like here. Lightcap’s walk rate has actually increased quite a bit. Despite his strikeout rate, an OPS almost 100 points lower than last season, and a huge drop in his slugging percentage, his OBP is actually not far off last year’s pace. His BABIP is a little bit higher than last season, which is actually not a good sign since he is struggling, but the K-rate appears to be the main issue. Once Lightcap begins turning his strikeouts into balls in play, he should be back to the player we’re used to seeing.

Corey Buletza – The Golden Bears’ leadoff hitter and centerfielder has been outstanding so far in 2009, showing a lot of improvement in his sophomore campaign. His OBP is up about 40 points to .383 and his OPS has jumped from .699 to .849. His strikeout rate is down about 8% to 10.2%, but is being mostly offset by a decline in walk rate. Buletza has walked just 4 times so far this year, a decline of over 3%.

His projections originally came in expecting him to be better than he was last year, but were worse than what he is actually putting up. This is mostly due to his .380 BABIP, which is well above the .338 mark he saw last season. I suspect that he won’t maintain the .380 BABIP and his numbers will drop slightly by the end of the season. That said, even with a slight decline, he will still be a more than capable leadoff hitter.

James Quigley – The team’s top option at designated hitter has put my projections to shame by maintaining an impressive BABIP. After putting up a .408 mark in 2008, he is up to .419 this season, albeit in just 52 at-bats. It is hard to imagine that staying above .400 for much longer, but a figure more in the .380 range seems possible. Thanks to the improved BABIP, his OBP and SLG are both well beyond where they were last season despite a slightly higher K-rate and a worse walk rate.
Expect a dip in BABIP, but not enough to really hurt Quigley’s production. He has proven to be a valuable commodity in the middle of the Kutztown order.

Brett Wigder/Mark Renda – The Wigder/Renda platoon at shortstop may not appear to be very productive on paper, but it’s not hard to see why either is struggling at the plate.

Wigder has seen a drop in BABIP from .333 last season to .235 this year. After being on base over 42% of the time last year, his OBP is down to .276 in 2009. Poor plate discipline appears to be the culprit here as his walk rate is down to 5.3% from 17.3% last season. On the plus side, his strikeout rate is down almost 10%. Wigder’s BABIP will likely improve down the stretch and his numbers should only improve.

Renda has also seen a drop in batting average this year, but has actually been more productive than in 2008. He is a prime example of why batting average is not a very good statistic to use in evaluating players. His OBP is up a ton to .391, his SLG is up to .378, and all this comes despite a bit of a BABIP decrease. Renda’s walk rate is up 5% and his K-rate has increased only slightly. Basically, Renda is turning singles from last season into walks and extra base hits this season. The fact that he is playing better than last year despite a lower BABIP means only good things are coming for him down the stretch.

Jared Frey – Frey, the team’s first baseman and cleanup hitter, has, as expected, seen somewhat of a balancing act by his BABIP. If you recall from the season preview, his BABIP was .406 in 2007, but dropped all the way down to .271 last year. This season, it sits at .299, which is still lower than where I think it will be by the end of the year.

His OBP is up a ton from last season thanks to an improved walk rate and the aforementioned better luck on balls hit in play. Frey appears right on track with my pre-season projection and should only get better as the year goes on.

Jeff Kistle/Mike Dugan – Like the first platoon we discussed, the Kistle/Dugan duo in right field has not blown the socks off of anybody this year. However, one half of this platoon has been way better than the other.

Kistle has seen a monstrous turn around in the BABIP department, as it is all the way up to .371 this year. However, his stats have not really mirrored that improvement as expected. His OBP is up slightly, but his slugging percentage is actually down to .321. We know Kistle needed to improve his strikeout rate and he has actually been a lot worse in his second season. As if his 37.5% strikeout rate wasn’t enough, his walk rate is also down slightly. Kistle will need to find a way to put the ball in play a bit more, or he will end up on the short end of the platoon.

Dugan has seen his production improve after a very impressive job in 149 plate appearances as a freshman. A lower strikeout rate and better walk rate appears to be the main reasons for his improvement. Dugan is one of the few to have maintained his BABIP from last season. However, despite only a .005 jump in that department, his numbers have increased more significantly than expected thanks to the improved K/BB figures. His OBP is up to .444 from .396 and his slugging is up over 20 points to .411. His .855 OPS is equivalent to the team average and, more importantly in terms of playing time, is light years ahead of Kistle.

Matt Kulbacki – Like Frey, Kulbacki was a victim of the “roaming-BABIP” his first two seasons at KU. Unlike Frey, his BABIP is actually even further off the map this season. After hitting .366 with a .419 BABIP in 2007, his average dropped to .276 with a .267 BABIP last year. This season the average is up to .377 thanks to a ridiculous .462 BABIP. Despite a lower walk rate and almost doubling his K-rate from the last 2 seasons, Kulbacki’s OPS is 1.026 this season as compared to .860 last year.

Obviously, KU’s top catcher is tearing the cover off the ball, but there is no way this keeps up. His homeruns are actually down from last year, and, as mentioned, he is not walking as much and is striking out way too much. His 3.25 K/BB ratio is second worst on the team behind only Kistle. Kulbacki is a great power hitter and will produce, but not at his current pace.

Mike Kacelowicz – After putting up a BABIP of .340 in 2007 and a .339 mark in 2008, predicting his numbers seemed pretty simple for 2009. Yeah, right. The team’s two-hitter and second baseman sports a .400 BABIP so far and has blown away his numbers from the last two years. Despite also seeing an increase in K-rate, he is one of the few Golden Bears to actually improve in the walks department. His OPS is up over 100 points to .940 and he’s been on base 46.3% of the time. He also has 8 steals, and in the irrelevant stats department, he is already closing in on his career highs in runs and RBIs.

Shayne Houck – Well this should be fun. I have no historical statistics to compare the club’s freshman third baseman to, so I’m flying blind on this one. Houck has been the team’s MVP at the plate so far this year, hitting a ridiculous .430, while clubbing 4 homers. His 1.235 OPS leads the team and his .538 OBP is outstanding.

If you read this entire article, you probably know where I’m going next: BABIP. His .465 mark is tops on the team and is all but unsustainable. Put it this way, since 1995, the highest BABIP among Kutztown players with at least 120 at-bats is .455 by Rob Ferry back in ’95.

That all being said, Houck is obviously an excellent hitter who will continue to produce. His K/BB ratio is one of the best on the team, he is hitting the long ball, and he is getting on base in several different ways. Houck appears to have one heck of a future ahead of him.

That will do it for now. Hopefully that is a good recap of the first half of the season and a good preview of the second half. I’ll get a similar analysis of pitching up as soon as I have some time.

Baseball team looks to make noise at Regionals

What: NCAA Division II North Atlantic Regional Baseball Playoffs
When: Thursday, May 15, 2008 – Sunday, May 18, 2008
Where: Point Stadium on the campus of Pitt-Johnstown University

Team Info
The KU baseball team will head into this week’s North Atlantic Regional playoffs looking to continue its Cinderella run to the Division II World Series. The Golden Bears enter the tournament with an automatic bid after shocking the entire region by winning the PSAC Championship earlier this month. The Golden Bears enter Regionals with a 30-24 record and have won 12 of their last 14 games against PSAC foes.

Kutztown will be the six seed in the tournament and its opening playoff game will be against top-seeded West Chester on Thursday at 11 a.m. The Golden Rams went 41-14 this season and Collegiate Baseball Newspaper has them ranked 24^th in the nation.

Six teams will contend for the Regional crown in the double elimination tournament. The other first round games will match second-seeded West Virginia State with fifth-seeded Shippensburg and third-seeded Concord with fourth-seeded Pitt-Johnstown. Three teams come from the PSAC, while the other three are from the WVIAC.

The Golden Bears were a combined 7-3 against the other five playoff teams in 2008. They were 0-1 against Concord, 5-2 against West Chester, and 2-0 against Shippensburg. KU did not play West Virginia St. or Pitt-Johnstown in the regular season.

Last season, KU won the North Atlantic Region Championship, which qualified them for the Division II World Series, where they were eliminated in just two games.

The Golden Bears started their improbable run to the Regional playoffs back in April when they completed the regular season by taking three of four games from West Chester. The wins improved their PSAC East record to 11-9, which earned them the division’s second seed in the six team conference playoffs. KU opened the tournament with a 4-3 win over Indiana (Pa.) and a 9-2 shellacking of Millersville, before falling for the first time against WCU 1-0. The Golden Bears responded by defeating Millersville again 8-7 before meeting West Chester for the PSAC title. KU needed to win back-to-back games against the Golden Rams to take the title and they did just that. The Golden Bears won game one 6-2 before escaping in the deciding game by a score of 8-7.

Probable Starting Lineup
1. LF – Chad Lightcap (.387-6-40)
Is the team’s best hitter by a longshot and is tops on the team in batting average, RBIs, runs (47), slugging (.620), and on-base percentage (.488).

2. 2B – Mike Kacelowicz (.315-1-20)
Spent much of the season as the leadoff hitter, but has done well in the two spot.

3. 3B – Mike Dugan (.286-1-19)
Frey could end up in this spot, but Dugan has the hot bat and will likely get the nod if he continues hitting.

4. DH – James Quigley (.330-1-17)
Quigley missed a big part of the early season, but has been stellar since his return.

5. CA – Matt Kulbacki (.286-7-32)
Will split time at catcher with Scott Kacelowicz, but his bat will be relied upon for power. He leads the team with seven homers.

6. RF – Corey Buletza (.278-1-23)
Captain versatility can play all three outfield spots and has started at least one game batting in every spot in the order except ninth.

7. CF – Garrison Rausch (.193-0-13)
Rausch struggled with the bat all season long, but has been hot over the last few games and could hit anywhere from fifth through eighth.

8. 1B – Jared Frey (.250-0-20)
Frey will be at the top of the order if he starts hitting again. He was well over .300 earlier this year, before a huge late-season dropoff.

9. SS – Mark Renda (.250-0-16)
Brett Wigder is likely to share time here, but Renda seems to be getting more playing time as of late. He leads the team with 17 steals.

Bench
CA – Scott Kacelowicz (.309-0-9) – Will see time at catcher
OF – Jeff Kistle (.220-1-11) – Will get a few spot starts and pinch hit opportunities
IF – Brett Wigder (.281-0-19) – Will see time at shortstop.
1B – Andy May (.311-1-9) – Will be limited to pinch hitting unless Frey struggles badly.
OF – Nole Saylor (.281-1-7) – Could see a start in centerfield.
OF – Bryan Riggins (.222-0-9) – Unlikely to see much time, but did get a rare start in PSACs.

Probable Pitching Rotation
1. LHP Darin Gorski (8-3 2.08)
The staff ace leads KU in wins, innings pitched (73.2), and strikeouts (78) and is best among the starters in ERA and opponent batting average (.208).

2. RHP Phil Rummel (6-5 3.39)
Has been better and better as the season has gone on and is not much of a dropoff, if any, from Gorski.

3. RHP Derek Reis (4-2 2.63)
A more than formidable third option, Reis is third best on the team in ERA in 51.1 innings of work.

4. LHP Garrison Rausch (1-3 6.17)
2008 was a struggle, but the senior has come up big in important games this season and could see a start.

5. RHP Jason Herr (0-2 3.72)
Herr started the decisive final game against West Chester and did a nice job. He could be rewarded with another spot start if necessary.

6. RHP Mike Bucklin (2-0 5.40)
He got a spot start in PSACs and could be used if Coach Blum is in a bind.

Bullpen
RHP Trent Mertz (1-0 1.80) - Leads the team in ERA and has 16 strikeouts in 20 innings of relief.
RHP Justin Jachowicz (1-3 3.33) – One of Coach Blum’s go to guys in the pen.
LHP Ryan Cassidy (2-2 4.24) – A top lefty option out of the bullpen.
RHP Mike Moran (1-1 4.86) – Has recorded more strikeouts than innings pitched so far this season
RHP Anthony Fegely (1-1 2.89) – Only worked 9.1 innings in 2008.
RHP Steve Craig (2-1 7.04) – Started earlier this season, but has struggled in limited action since then.
LHP Jordan Smith (1-1 5.02) – Unlikely to see much work

Outlook
As mentioned in last week’s PSAC preview, the Golden Bears aren’t the team that everyone feared in 2007, but teams are definitely going to take them more seriously now they’ve dominated West Chester and came out as champions of the always competitive PSAC. Last years team was loaded with veteran talent, but in 2008 its young talent, which can sometimes be even scarier for opponents.

The run to a Regional title will be the team’s toughest challenge of the season, but the Golden Bears’ deep pitching staff will keep them competitive against anyone. The young offense has been red hot, but the two week layoff from PSACs could be troubling for their momentum. It will be interesting to see if they continue to swing the bats well.

The Golden Bears have had success against the top teams in the PSAC, a strong pitching conference, but the WVIAC is more of a hitting-first conference. They say pitching wins championships, so that could give KU somewhat of an edge. The Golden Bears are another strong sleeper pick in Regionals as long as the offense continues to put runs on the board.

Playoffs on line as baseball faces WCU

What: Kutztown Golden Bears @ West Chester Golden Rams
When: Friday, April 25, 2008 @ 1 p.m. (Doubleheader)
Where: Serpico Stadium on the campus of West Chester University
~and~
What: West Chester Golden Rams @ Kutztown Golden Bears
When: Saturday, April 26, 2008 @ 1 p.m. (Doubleheader)
Where: North Campus Field on the campus of Kutztown University
Radio: KUR Sports at 12:50 p.m. (Jason Ogle)

Game Info
The KU baseball team has just four games left to find a way back to the PSAC Playoffs. The Golden Bears (8-8) currently are tied for the third and final playoff spot in the Eastern division, but it won’t be easy to hold on with division-leading West Chester (10-6) in the other dugout this weekend. Millersville (10-6) is currently tied with WCU in first place, while Mansfield (8-8) is tied with KU for the third spot. Bloomsburg (6-10) and East Stroudsburg (6-10) can still qualify for the playoffs. What is interesting about this weekend is that the Golden Bears could come out, at best, the PSAC East champion or, at worst, in last place. As unlikely as it is, all six teams could also end up with identical 10-10 records. Imagine that.

The teams will meet for two games on Friday afternoon in West Chester before returning to Kutztown for each team’s final regular season action of the year.

Meanwhile, Bloomsburg will be up against Mansfield and ESU will meet Millersville. There are several different scenarios where KU can get into the playoffs, but the most important part of them includes the Golden Bears winning at least two of the weekend’s four games. Wins in three of the games would clinch them a spot.

The Golden Bears enter the game at 22-20 overall this season and are fresh off a 4-2 win against Shippensburg on Tuesday. Their most recent divisional action was last weekend when they took three-of-four from East Stroudsburg. On Friday at ESU, KU dropped game one 1-2 before bouncing back to an 11-6 win in game two. On Saturday at North Campus Field, the Golden Bears won both games by scores of 2-0 and 10-3.

The Golden Rams are ranked 14^th in Division II and are 37-9 overall in 2008. They are coming off a 12-2 in over University of the Sciences on Thursday. There most recent PSAC East action was four-game set with Bloomsburg last weekend in which they split the four games. On Friday, the Golden Rams fell 8-3 in game one before taking game two 10-3. On Saturday, they won game one 3-2 before falling 10-7 in game two.

Last season, the teams met five times, including once during the NCAA Division II North Atlantic Regionals. KU took three of the four regular season matchups, including 8-4 and 3-2 wins at home and a 4-5 loss and 9-3 win on the road. In the playoffs, KU easily handled the Golden Rams 9-1 to win the North Atlantic Regional Tournament.

Probable Starting Lineups
Kutztown:
1. Corey Buletza – LF/RF
2. Mike Kacelowicz – 2B
3. Chad Lightcap – LF
4. James Quigley – DH/3B
5. Jared Frey – 1B
6. Matt Kulbacki/Scott Kacelowicz – CA
7. Mike Dugan – 3B/DH
8. Garrison Rausch – CF
9. Mark Renda/Jeff Kistle/Brett Wigder – UT
SPs: Phil Rummel, Darin Gorski, Garrison Rausch, Derek Reis

West Chester:
1. Nick Spisak – SS
2. Frank Nunan – CF
3. Matt Cotellese – RF
4. Kyle Bechter – 2B
5. Blair Dameron – 1B
6. Drew Pare – DH
7. Connor Thorp – LF
8. Brandon Wolfe – CA
9. Jake Griesemer – 3B
SPs: Chris Powl, Jason Bowman, David Slusser, Bret Moyer

KU Scouting Report
The Golden Bears are led offensively by Chad Lightcap (.398-5-27). He leads the team in batting average, homers, RBIs, runs scored (32), slugging percentage (.626), and on base percentage (.493). Jared Frey (.305-0-15) has progressed nicely in his second season and will man first base and bat in the top half of the order. Scott Kacelowicz (.310-0-8) and Matt Kulbacki (.308-5-23) have been a formidable catching combination and each will start one game. Mike Dugan (.290-1-14), Brett Wigder (.296-0-18), James Quigley (.299-0-7), and Corey Buletza (.287-1-16) have hit well in extensive action as freshmen. Leadoff man Mike Kacelowicz (.307-1-16) has lifted his average back above .300 and is tops on the team with 15 doubles and 21 walks. Jeff Kistle (.223-0-10), Mark Renda (.252-0-15), Nole Saylor (.259-0-5), and Andy May (.317-1-6) are four other freshman who will see a few at-bats during the weekend. Garrison Rausch (.174-0-7) will man center and bat in the lower part of the order.

Darin Gorski (7-2 2.30), Phil Rummel (4-4 2.98), Derick Reis (2-2 2.82), and Garrison Rausch (1-3 6.03) are likely to be the weekend’s four starters. Justin Jachowicz (0-3 3.24), Ryan Cassidy (1-2 5.17), and Steve Craig (2-1 4.09) are other candidates to make a spot start if needed.

Outlook
It is do-or-die time for the Golden Bears. West Chester is one of the nation’s best teams, but fortunately for KU, they haven’t been on top of their game over the past few weeks. They are certainly beatable and since these two teams have built quite a rivalry, there is no reason to believe that anything can happen this weekend. It’s probably a long shot, but if KU can sweep, it’s possible that WCU could even fall out of the top three in the division.

With all that said, West Chester is still a veteran team with a lot of talent. KU will need to take it one game at a time and at least win half of the four games. The Golden Bears have the pitching to steal a few low scoring games, but if the Golden Rams have a big offensive weekend, it could mean trouble. The young KU offense will need to perform and the veteran pitchers need to step up and continue their dominance. If that happens, the Golden Bears could certainly be playoff bound.

Bats remain quiet against Marauders

Recap:
Friday, April 11 @ Millersville:
Game 1: L 1-5
Phil Rummel allowed just one earned run, but five KU errors allowed the Marauders to muster up five runs en route to the 5-1 win. Rummel threw the entire six innings for the Golden Bears and allowed just four hits, while striking out six. KU managed just three hits with Jeff Kistle accounting for two of them and Chap Lightcap recording the other.
Game 2: L 0-6
The offense was even worse in game two as it managed just two hits in a 6-0 loss. James Quigley and Garrison Rausch each had a single in the second inning. Justin Jachowicz started for KU and took the loss. He allowed just one run on three hits in four innings of work. Mike Bucklin got rocked for five runs on six hits in 1.2 innings of relief.

Saturday, April 12 vs. Millersville:
Game 1: W 3-2
Seven different Golden Bears recorded at least one hit as KU won game one on Saturday 3-2. Jeff Kistle was the only Golden Bears with multiple hits, going 2-for-3 at the plate with an RBI. Matt Kulbacki was 1-of-2 and had the other two RBIs. Darin Gorksi continued his stellar play on the hill, allowing just two runs, one earned, on five hits in a complete game effort. He struck out 10 Marauders.
Game 2: L 1-3
KU managed eight more hits in game two, but could get just one run across and fell 3-1. Scott Kacelowicz was 3-for-3 at the plate and drove in the only KU run. Garrison Rausch showed he is beginning to heat up by scoring the team’s lone run in a 2-for-3 effort at the dish. Derek Reis took the loss for KU, allowing three runs on 12 hits in just over six innings of work.

What we liked:
Although it only resulted in wins in one of the four games, the starting pitching was stellar as usual. Darin Gorski continues to dominate and is now 6-2 with a 2.61 ERA this season. Derick Reis had a rough outing, but is still 1-2 with a 2.43 ERA in 2008. Phil Rummel had a nice outing if you ignore the five KU errors and is 4-3 with a 3.40 ERA this season. If the Golden Bears have a chance to come back and make the playoffs, it’s going to be the continued efforts of the pitching staff. Garrison Rausch has struggled on the hill and at the plate this season, but that wasn’t the case against Millersville. He wasn’t called on to pitch, but he was 3-of-6 (.500) at the plate and scored a run. Jeff Kistle was one of the top hitters as well, going 4-for-8 (.500) at the plate while driving in a run.

What we didn’t like:
The young offense has not been able to produce against the PSAC East pitching and it is costing them in the standings. Against Millersville, seven regulars (at least six total at-bats over the four games) batted .200 or worse. Mike Kacelowicz was 1-for-11 (.091), Chad Lightcap was 2-for-12 (.167), Jared Frey was 1-for-13 (.077), James Quigley was 2-for-10 (.200), Corey Buletza was 1-for-10 (.100), Mark Renda was 1-for-7 (.143), and Mike Dugan was 0-for-6 (.000). KU scored just five runs on 21 hits in the four games.

Impact:
The Golden Bears needed a split with the Marauders just to remain tied with them for the third and final playoff spot in the East. Instead, they fall to 5-7 and are tied with East Stroudsburg for fourth. West Chester leads the way at 8-4 and Mansfield and Millersville are both 7-5. KU has yet to play the nationally-ranked Golden Rams of West Chester, but still has a four game set with them after this weekend’s four spot with ESU. The Golden Bears will need continued strong efforts from the pitching staff and will need a few more runs a game from the offense if they hope to return to the playoffs. A weekend sweep against ESU would be huge. Stay tuned.

Baseball splits with Bloom

Recap:
Saturday, March 29 vs. Bloomsburg:
Game 1: W 5-1
Darin Gorski (4-2) tossed a complete game, allowing one run on four hits en route to a 5-1 KU victory. DH James Quigley [Pictured], 1B Jared Frey, and CA Matt Kulbacki each had two hits, while SS Mike Kacelowicz has one. Quigley and LF Chad Lightcap each scored twice, while Frey knocked in a team-high two runs.

Game 2: L 0-1
The Golden Bears out-hit the Huskies 5-3, but failed to score a run and fell by a score of 1-0. Lightcap, Quigley, OF Mike Dugan, CA Scott Kacelowicz, and IF Mark Renda provided the five KU hits. Derek Reis took the loss for the Golden Bears despite allowing just one run on three hits in 5.2 innings of work.

Sunday, March 30 @ Bloomsburg:
Game 1: L 5-3
Two errors by KU allowed the Huskies to score four unearned runs in the sixth inning, propelling them to a 5-3 win. Garrison Rausch took the loss for KU, allowing five runs, one earned, one six hits in 5.1 innings. The Golden Bears managed just six hits, including a team-high two from Frey, who also scored a run. Scott Kacelowicz drove in two of KU’s three runs.

Game 2: W 10-4
The KU offense finally got rolling in Sunday’s second game, as they exploded to a 10-4 victory. Phil Rummel was on the hill for KU and allowed four runs, one earned, on nine hits in six innings of work. The Golden Bears’ offense was led by three-hit days from Quigley and Dugan. Contributing two hits a piece was Frey, Kulbacki, Rausch, and RF Corey Buletza, who also homered. Buletza drove in a team-high two runs, while Lightcap, Quigley, and Kulbacki each scored twice.

What we liked:
James Quigley was outstanding despite entering the weekend with 10 career at bats at KU. He was 7-of-15 (.467) at the plate and scored four runs. Jared Frey was 6-of-12 (.500), scored three times, and drove in three runs. Mike Dugan was 5 of-10 (.500), scored a pair of runs, and drove in two more. The catcher tandem of Scott Kacelowicz and Matt Kulbacki was also stellar, as they combined for six hits in nine at bats, as well as, four runs and two RBIs.

The pitching was much better than a 2-2 record might indicate. Each starter allowed just one earned run and all four of them (Gorski, Reis, Rausch, Rummel) lasted into the sixth inning.

What we didn’t like:
At times the offense looked extremely dull, and as you can tell from the boxscore and game recaps, it was extremely inconsistent. The Golden Bears scored four runs over two innings in game one on Saturday before getting shutout in game two. On Sunday, they broke through for three runs in the fourth inning, but that was their only run production. Then, in game two, they finally showed some consistent production, scoring at least one run in four different innings.

No complaints can be made about the stellar pitching, but there were a few players who struggled at the plate—not surprising for such a young squad. Mike Kacelowicz was just 2-of-14 (.143) at the plate and scored just once in the four games, which is unacceptable for a leadoff man. Mark Renda spends a lot of time in the two hole and was just 1-of-8 (.125) in the hitting department. The team’s best hitter Chad Lightcap bats from the three spot in the order and, although he did score four runs, he struggled to a 3-of-14 (.214) weekend at the plate. Garrison Rausch and Corey Buletza broke out in the final game of the weekend, but each managed just two hits a piece overall. Fellow freshmen Jeff Kistle and Brett Wigder combined for a 0-for-10 weekend.

Impact:
As mentioned in my preview for this series, KU needed to take at least three games from Bloomsburg. They failed to do that, but at least came away with wins in two of the four. The competition for a PSAC playoff berth will only get tougher from here, so manager Chris Blum is going to have to hope that his young team will continue to improve as the year goes on. There is no reason to believe that won’t be the case, as this is an extremely young team with loads of talent—not to mention a pitching staff that can keep them close in every game. I still think KU will sneak into the playoffs, but it’s going to be close. They will need to starting beating the team’s that are worse than them, unlike what happened this past weekend.