KUTZTOWN, PA (April 10, 2010) – Amazing how four wins and some unexpected help in the span of 48 hours can lift the spirits. When the weekend started, the Kutztown University softball team had a three-game losing streak and was a game behind West Chester in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Eastern Division standings.
However, by the time the sun disappeared and the fierce wind subsided, the Golden Bears ended the weekend in a much more merrier mood after sweeping Gannon University, 7-2 and 5-0 Saturday afternoon at North Campus Field in a PSAC crossover contest. The victories extended Kutztown's winning streak to four games. (GAME 1 BOXSCORE) / (GAME 2 BOXSCORE)
As an added bonus, Shippensburg stunned West Chester Friday afternoon which meant when the Golden Bears arrived for their game against Gannon, they were in a first place tie with West Chester with four conference games remaining. Kutztown improved its overall record to 31-12 while Gannon dropped to 12-17. Both KU and WCU are 9-3 in conference play.
Everything is all good for Kutztown, which surpassed the 30-win plateau for the fifth consecutive season and sixth time in the last seven years. In the wins against Gannon, the Golden Bears got effective pitching, timely hitting, strong defense and good base running. All of those ingredients have helped make Kutztown one of the region's elite teams for quite some time.
“We're on a good track now,” senior outfield Maria Schiavo said. “Our bats are getting better. We were excited when we got here this morning and found out that we were in a tie for first place. It's going to make the final week of the season fun. We know we have a strong tradition and we just keep working hard to live up to it.”
Schiavo and senior pitcher Katlin Arbogast have enjoyed plenty of great moments for the Golden Bears. The terrific twosome has helped Kutztown to 168 victories during their sterling careers. While 30 wins is a nice accomplishment, Schiavo and Arbogast have known nothing but winning 40 games in a season. The fewest games Kutztown has won since the pair has worn the sacred maroon-and-gold were 43 in their freshman year.
Arbogast and Schiavo had a hand in helping Kutztown win the opening game.
Schiavo had her 16th multi-hit game of the season with a pair of hits including a triple that was bludgeoned to deep center field. The ball landed in front of the fence. Schiavo sped around the bases like a greyhound and strolled into third base standing. Jennifer Stow scored on Schiavo's triple.
“I thought the ball was going to go out,” Schiavo said. “The girls on the bench really helped me in that at-bat. We usually try to see where the pitcher is throwing the ball and I heard somebody say 'go with'. That's what I did; I just went with the pitch.”
Meanwhile, Arbogast tossed her 92nd career complete game. She allowed a pair of unearned runs and struck out seven batters to raise her career total to 957. Gannon proved to be a nuisance to Arbogast throughout the game as it consistently had base runners. However, Arbogast was up to the task each time.
“The team had my back today and yesterday,” Arbogast said. “Playing in the wind makes me nervous because I am an up ball pitcher. But today my team was great and it was nice having that support.”
The Golden Bears took advantage of a pair of errors in the third inning to grab a 3-0 lead. Of course, that was more than enough for Arbogast. However, the Golden Bears continued to add runs throughout the game. Krista Tedjeske drove in a pair of runs in the opening game with a sacrifice fly and a single.
Tedjeske provided an early jolt in the second game with a two-out three-run first inning home run to left field. She finished the afternoon with five runs batted in. Tedjeske just missed a second home run in the third inning as the wind hooked a sure blast into a harmless foul ball down the leftfield line.
Monica Glomb hurled her second shutout and collected her sixth complete game of the season. She was masterful in allowing four hits and striking out four batters. Also providing offensive support for Glomb in the second game was Stow, whose RBI double expanded KU's lead to 4-0 in the fourth inning. Maria Isgro also had a hit and scored a run for the Golden Bears.
The Golden Bears conclude the PSAC East regular season schedule with doubleheaders at home against Shippensburg on Tuesday afternoon and at East Stroudsburg Friday afternoon. Meanwhile, West Chester hosts East Stroudsburg Tuesday and visits Millersville Friday in a pair of doubleheaders. It should be an interesting sprint to the finish for both teams.
The prize is the regular season title and hosting the first round of the PSAC tournament during the weekend of April 23.
“We're happy to be tied for first but now our focus is to keep winning,” Arbogast said. “We want to get to the Regionals, super Regionals and beyond. It's difficult, but not impossible to win 30 games every year. To know that you're able to accomplish that with everybody giving 100 percent against you is certainly a good feeling. The winning is something we don't take for granted.”
--KU--
