Although it did not get a chance to make a playoff run, the 2005

Kessler drove in a career-high 20 runs, stole seven bases and made only one error as a senior. He finished with a career batting average of .321 and ranked eighth on Muhlenberg’s all-time list with 132 hits.

Muhlenberg baseball team had plenty of runs in it. The Mules ranked among the Division III leaders and shattered the school record for a 20-game season by averaging 8.59 runs per game.

The team boasted an offensive attack that was dangerous up and down the lineup. Of the nine players with the most at-bats, eight hit between .285 and .336. The lone exception led the team in runs scored with 32.

Muhlenberg also set school records for extra-base hits (102) and triples in a season (24) and hits in a game (27 in a 23-2 win at Dickinson).

Of course, offense is only one facet of the game, and the Mules did not enjoy such great success with their pitching or defense. They finished with a winning record, 17-15, but were only 8-10 in the Centennial

Burkhart compiled a 3-1 record as a senior to earn All-CC honorable mention for the second time and finish with a career mark of 12-7. The Mules’ all-time leader in strikeouts per nine innings (9.2), he whiffed 203 batters, becoming the eighth pitcher in CC history to fan 200 in a career.

Conference and were three games out of the final playoff berth.

Muhlenberg set the tone for its high-scoring season on its spring trip to Arizona, going 4-3 and averaging more than 11 runs per game. The Mules won their first six games back East, starting 2-0 in the CC for the first time ever and recording their first 10-3 start since 1969.

Three Muhlenberg seniors achieved career milestones during the season: Gregg Burkhart became the program’s all-time strikeout leader, and C.J. Kessler and Matthew Long joined the 100-hit club. Long reached the milestone in style, belting a home run for hit No. 100.

Sophomore catcher A.J. Bettini, in his first year as a starter, won the CC batting title by hitting .436 in league games. He hit .333 with 24 RBI overall and did a solid job behind the plate, earning All-CC

Long ended his career fourth in team history in doubles (28), sixth in on-base percentage (.440) and extra-base hits (42), seventh in runs scored (93) and ninth in RBI (79).

honorable mention.

Freshman Joe Carlo led all regulars with a .336 batting average. Junior Matt Tobia had a breakout season, hitting .317 with team highs of five home runs and 30 RBI. He tied a school record by homering in three straight games, including a 10th-inning walkoff against Haverford.

Long overcame a slow start to finish with a .287 batting average and 29 RBI. He hit two home runs in an 8-7 win at Johns Hopkins on the next-to-last day of the season.

Senior Aaron Regensburg led the staff in wins with a 4-3 record, becoming the sixth Mule hurler to win 15 games in a career. Sophomore Jason Bonder won three games and struck out 14 batters – the most by a Muhlenberg pitcher since 1987 – against Lake Erie. Sophomore Eric Wolfer went 3-0 with a 4.13 ERA, mostly in a relief role.