2006 PSAC Baseball Championship

Shaner Sports Complex, Boalsburg, Pa.

Thursday May 4
Game 1
Mansfield 9, California 1
Game 2
Kutztown 2, Shippensburg 1
Game 3
Slippery Rock 12, West Chester 8
Game 4
Shippensburg 11, California 1
Game 5
West Chester 16, Mansfield 4
Game 6
Kutztown 10, Slippery Rock 4		 Friday May 5 
Game 7
Slippery Rock 7, Mansfield 0
Game 8
West Chester 5, Shippensburg 2
Game 9
Kutztown 5, Slippery Rock 4

Saturday May 6
Game 10
Kutztown 8, West Chester 5

BOALSBURG, PA – Mike McCardell was 3-for-5 with two runs scored, an RBI and picked up his third save of the tournament as Kutztown defeated West Chester, 8-5, to claim its second-straight Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Baseball Championship.

McCardell, who was named the tournament MVP, hit .529 (9-of-17) with six runs, five doubles and three RBI. He also saved three of Kutztown’s four wins in the tournament, pitching four shutout innings. The save on Saturday was the 15th of the junior right hander’s career, tying the school record of 15 (Matt Keller).

With the win, Kutztown improved to 40-12 overall, setting a school record for wins in a season (39, 2005) and claims the PSAC’s automatic berth to the NCAA Championship, May 18-21 at a site to be determined. West Chester, ranked fourth in the latest regional poll, is likely a lock for an at-large berth in the six-team North Atlantic Regional field.

Kutztown had to come from behind to defeat the Golden Rams, taking a 6-5 lead on a two-run homer by Paul Cashin in the bottom of the seventh. KU added two more runs in the inning on a squeeze bunt by Matt Dierolf and an RBI single by Gary Stricker.

McCardell came on in the top of the eighth, hurling two shutout innings to close the door and give KU its 40th win of the season, a school record.

The game was a see-saw affair until KU took the lead for good. Kutztown plated two runs in the first on an RBI groundout by McCardell and a single by Loper.

WCU knotted it at two, scoring one on a throwing error and the other on a groundout by Matt Cottelese. The Rams went up 3-2 in the third when Kyle Bechter scored on a groundout by Joey Yeager.

In the bottom of the third, Loper tied the score when he reached on a throwing error as Jeff Craig scored. Garrison Rausch singled in Loper for a 4-3 Golden Bear lead.

WCU tied the score again in the fifth, when Nate Guers scored from second when KU starter Philip Rummel tried to pick off Yeager at first. Rummel had success with the move, picking off three Rams in the game.

In the seventh, West Chester took its final lead when Yeager singled in Sean Bond for a 5-4 lead.

McCardell led off the bottom of the seventh with a triple to center field. Paul Cashin then blasted a David Slusser pitch over the right field fence for a 6-5 lead and KU never looked back.

Loper was 3-for-5 with two RBI. Craig was 2-for-4 with two runs. Rummel went seven innings, striking out two for the win (5-3).

Slusser pitched six innings for WCU, taking the loss (7-4). Bond was 4-for-5, Yeager and Cotellese were 2-for-4.

The title is the fifth in the program’s history, the fourth since 1999. KU is the first team to repeat as PSAC champion since Mansfield won four-straight from 1992-95.