Lock Haven, Pa—On Tuesday, the PSAC announced the All-Conference Teams for baseball, two Lakers found their names on the list. Michael Krauza found his name as the first team Relief Pitcher. Matthew Gibson was named to the second team as an Outfielder.
Michael Krauza / Murrysville, Pa / Graduate Student / St. Bonaventure
After playing three seasons at St. Bonaventure, Krauza joined the Lakers and was an impact player from the start. He made his first appearance in the Laker uniform on opening day as he went 3.1 innings while allowing just one run on one hit while striking out four against Wheeling. Krauza's best regular season game came against Slippery Rock on April 30th, he went 4.1 innings and was near perfect out of the bullpen as he allowed one hit and struckout nine in a vital game in a playoff run for the Lakers. In the first round of the playoffs he went 4.2 innings against Cal and allowed just one run on one hit in the playoff win. Krauza has a 2.67 ERA this season and has made 22 appearances while striking out a team high 71 and leads the PSAC in wins with ten. He also had the most innings pitched of any relief pitcher in the conference.
Head Coach Joe Spano spoke very highly of Krauza "Mike has been amazing for us this year; he has been our go to guy in every big situation. He is having one of the all-time great seasons in our programs history".
Matthew Gibson / New Castle, Pa / Senior / New Castle HS
In his senior season with the Lakers Gibson led the team with a .380 batting average, he finished tied for ninth in the PSAC in hitting. He was also able blast five home runs this season while having a .609 slugging percentage. He drew a team high 24 walks and had an outstanding on-base percentage of .521 which was third in the PSAC overall and second in the PSAC west. He drove in 26 runs this season while a coming across to score 32 times this season. Gibson's biggest game this season what the PSAC quarterfinal game against Cal. With a nagging injury Gibson was able to go 2-3 at the plate as the DH, he was able to score three runs while also driving four across. Three of those RBIs came on a three-run homer that helped secure the 10-3 win to allow the Lakers to move on.
"Matt is having an incredible season on the field, but more importantly he has been our leader and a player that everyone looks up to, his tremendous work ethic since he arrived on campus has really paid off". Spano said about the fourth-year player.
The Lakers fell on Sunday in the PSAC Semifinals to No. 7 Seton Hill, the Lakers are now waiting to see if they will receive an at-large bid for the NCAA Atlantic Regional Tournament that will be held in Charleston, West Virginia on May 27th. The NCAA selection show will take place on Sunday May 23rd at 10 PM on NCAA.com.
