Baseball | 3/24/2018 12:46:00 PM

THE DETAILS
Bloomsburg (8-4, 0-0 PSAC East) vs Kutztown (6-4, 0-0 PSAC East)
Sunday, March 25 - 1:00 PM (DH)
Bloomsburg, Pa. | Danny Litwhiler Field

GAME COVERAGE
Live Stats

RELATED LINKS
Bloomsburg - Roster | Schedule | Statistics
Kutztown - Roster | Schedule | Statistics

STORYLINE
After some reshuffling of the schedule, the Huskies and the Golden Bears will open up conference action on Sunday afternoon. Bloomsburg was picked to finish fifth in the PSAC East while Kutztown was slated to finish seventh.

ALL-TIME SERIES
Kutztown leads the all-time series against Bloomsburg, 111-106-1. The Huskies did take a pair of games from the Golden Bears in Colonial Heights, Virginia, back on February 23 (9-8) and February 24 (11-5) of this season.

SCOUTING BLOOMSBURG
Bloomsburg has won three of its last four games and, offensively, are tied for tenth in the PSAC with a team batting average of .304 and have outscored their opponents, 100-70, through the first dozen games of the year. Austin Edgette (Exton, Pa./Downingtown East) leads the team, and the PSAC, in hitting with a .536 average (15-of-28). He also leads the team in on-base percentage (.658), slugging percentage (.786), and stolen bases (6) while ranking tied for second in both hits (15) and runs scored (12) despite missing all four games in North Carolina. Ben Newbert (Bala Cynwyd, Pa./Harriton) had a 5-for-5 performance against IUP last Tuesday and is batting .391 (9-for-23) in eight games played. He is third on the team with 11 runs batted in. Shane Woelfel (Mahwah, N.J./Mahwah) comes in with a .375 batting average (15-of-40) with a team-high 15 runs scored while Cole Swiger (Maple Glen, Pa./Upper Dublin) is also above .300 as he enters with a .353 average (18-of-51) with team highs in both hits (18) and doubles (7). Ryan Shiffer (Toms River, N.J./Toms River South) leads the team with 18 runs batted in and is batting .298 (14-of-47) on the season.

On the mound, the Huskies are fifth in the PSAC with a 4.89 team earned run average. Chad Cooperman (Allentown, Pa./Salisbury) is 1-1 with a team-leading 0.61 ERA in three starts. He is holding the opposition to a .175 clip and leads the team with 18 strikeouts in 14.2 innings. Nick Stoner (Elizabethtown, Pa./Elizabethtown) has a 2.70 ERA in three appearances (two starts). In 13.1 innings of work, the rookie righthander has allowed only seven hits while striking out 12. He is limited opponents to a .143 batting average. Ashton Raines (Wallingford, Pa./Strath Haven) is also off to a great start as he sports a 3-0 record with a 3.15 ERA in four appearances (three starts). He is holding opponents to a .169 batting average and has nearly a 5-to-1 strikeout to walk ratio (14-to-3). Out of the bullpen, JJ Spehrley (Pottsville, Pa./Pottsville Area) has won three times and is 3-0 with a 4.09 ERA in five appearances. He has struck out 13 batters in 11 innings. Ed Herbener (Freeland, Pa./MMI Preparatory School) has the other victory and is 1-0 with one save and a 5.87 ERA in three appearances.

SCOUTING KUTZTOWN
Kutztown comes in having won three straight games, and five of its last six, to get to 6-4 on the season. Most recently, the Golden Bears defeated University of the Sciences, 20-3, on Monday, March 19. Kutztown is fourth in the PSAC with a team batting average of .320. Nick Lafferty leads the team by hitting at a .469 clip (15-of-32) with one home run and 12 runs batted in. Mitch Pinder (14-of-37) is second with a .378 average. Five other Golden Bears are hitting .300 or better on the season. Dariel Richardson leads the team with two home runs while Ryan Cox has a team-high 13 RBI on the year. Kutztown, as a team, has only hit five home runs through the first ten games.

On the mound, Kutztown has a team earned run average of 5.82 - eighth in the PSAC. Michael Hunter has been sensational early as he is 2-0 with a 0.82 ERA in three starts. He has allowed only six hits in 11 innings (.162 opponent average) and has struck out eight. Out of the bullpen, Garrett Alread has not allowed a run in three appearances. He has given up just one hit while striking out six in three innings.

UP NEXT
The Huskies will play home-and-home doubleheaders against Shippensburg University next Friday and Saturday, March 30 and 31. The teams will open the weekend series at Danny Litwhiler Field on Friday afternoon and then will head to Shippensburg to conclude the series on Saturday. First pitch of both twinbills are slated for 1:00 p.m.