KUTZTOWN, Pa. – Senior Tyler Melko hit his fifth home run in the last four games to tie the nightcap at three, but Kutztown University scored the game winner in the top of the sixth inning to complete the 7-2, 4-3 sweep in Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) East action on Saturday afternoon, April 3 at North Campus Field.

The series finished at 2-2 after Mansfield's two wins yesterday.

Through just 16 games, Melko has the most home runs by a Mountaineer since Peter Pena '17 had seven in 2017. Melko is one homer shy of the PSAC lead of seven by Seton Hill's Derek Orndorff.

In game two, the Mounties (4-12, 3-9 PSAC East) cut the Kutztown (13-9, 7-9 PSAC East) lead to 3-2 after freshman Zach Shertzer doubled in freshman Dylan Mercedes and junior Ben Osborne.

Freshman Eric Gustofson (0-4) continued to settle in on the mound with a shutdown inning in the fifth, allowing Melko to tie the game at three with a solo blast in the bottom half of the inning.  

However, the Golden Bears strung together three hits and pushed the eventual game-winning run across in the top of the sixth to secure the victory. Sophomore Josh Farina led off the seventh with a walk but did not come around to score for Mansfield.

Melko scored twice to go with his big fly, while Shertzer notched two RBI, a double and walked twice to lead the Mountaineer offense.

Gustofson was dealt the loss, allowing four runs (one earned) and striking out eight in 5 and 1/3 innings. Sophomore Todd Erney did not allow a run in 1 and 2/3 innings in relief.

Gavin Moretski earned the complete-game victory, allowing three runs and striking out 10 in seven innings. Mitchell Peers led the Golden Bears' offense, going 3-for-4 with a run, RBI and double.

In game one, the Golden Bears scored four runs in the second, two in the third and added one in the fourth to jump out to a 7-0 lead.

The Mounties got on the board with two runs in the seventh when Osborne doubled in Melko and junior Brittain Shander, but Kutztown stopped the rally and secured the victory.

The Mounties only had one less hit than the Golden Bears (8-7), but left 11 runners on base compared to three for Kutztown.

Osbrone led the Mountie offense, going 3-for-4 with two RBI and a double, while Shander finished 2-for-4 with a run and Mercedes added a double.

Freshman Ryan King was charged with five earned runs in the loss, while KU's Zach Male did not give up a run in six innings to earn the victory.

The Mounties kick off a four-game PSAC East series by hosting Lock Haven University on Friday, April 9 at noon (DH) at Shaute Field.