FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 3-18-03

College Baseball: Kutztown 4, No. 11 AASU 2

SAVANNAH, Ga. – Kutztown plated four unearned runs in the final two innings to rally past No. 11-ranked Armstrong Atlantic State, 4-2, in 2003 Savannah Invitational action on Tuesday afternoon at Pirate Field.

Neither the Pirates (19-4) nor the Golden Bears (6-4) could score in the first six innings of play, but AASU finally broke into the scoring column thanks to solo home runs from junior Stacy Bennett and junior Michael Pelley in the bottom of the seventh inning to take a short-lived 2-0 lead.

In the top of the eighth, Kutztown rallied to plate two on a bases-loaded double play and a wild pitch to tie the game at 2-all.

The Golden Bears’ Marshall Mirarchi then came into the contest to shut down the Pirates over the final two innings, pitching shutout ball and striking out two to pick up the win as his mates plated two more in the top of the ninth for the victory. Kutztown pinch hitter Josh Fink singled in the hole past a drawn-in infield to plate John Yearsley with the go-ahead run, then a sacrifice fly by Al Fitch plated the insurance run. It was the first win in eight tries for Kutztown against AASU, dating back to 1983. Joey Smith (1-1) took the loss for AASU, giving up two unearned runs and two hits in two innings pitched.

AASU will be next in action on Saturday, March 22, as the Pirates host defending NCAA DII National Champion Columbus State for a Peach Belt Conference doubleheader at Noon.

- Pirates -