CLERMONT, Fl. (March 5, 2011) – The Kutztown University softball teams' bats awoke from a season-long slumber to pound out 34 hits in a pair of victories against Felician College and Dominican College Saturday afternoon on the first day of its Spring Break Trip. Kutztown beat Felician, 9-4, and Dominican, 6-1.
Kutztown (9-2 overall) is ranked 21st in this week's National Fastpitch Coaches' Association (NFCA) top 25 poll. Amazingly, 28 of the 30 hits during the two games were singles as the Golden Bears used a four-run inning in each game to take control.
Against Felician, the Golden Bears overcame a 2-0 deficit by cramming seven runs into the third and fourth innings. Brie Knipe and
Krista Tedjeske (Summerhill, PA/Forest Hill) had six of the Golden Bears' 16 hits in the game. They had three hits each.
Morgan Booth (Stroudsburg, PA/Stroudsburg) had a pair of singles along with three RBI's for Kutztown. Tedjeske also had three RBIs and Knipe drove home a pair.
Showcasing their entire arsenal, the Golden Bears grabbed the lead for good on a
Jackie Hetzler (Sewell, NJ/Washington Township) sacrifice fly in the bottom of the third inning. Kutztown broke the game open by scoring four runs in the fourth inning. With one out, six Kutztown consecutive hitters reached base:
Katie Lynch (Willow Street, PA/Lampeter-Strasburg),
Maria Isgro (Galloway, NJ/Absegami), Knipe, Tedjeske,
Heather Hannum (Horsham, PA/Hatboro-Horsham), and Booth. Tedjeske had the big blow of the inning when she ripped a bases loaded double that scored Lynch and Isgro. Hannum and Booth finished the uprising with consecutive RBI singles.
The first game proved to be a prelude to the offensive fireworks in Kutztown's second game. The Golden Bears battered the Dominican pitching staff for 18 hits. Even though Kutztown sprayed the ball around the field, it still wasn't able to apply the knockout blow until the sixth inning when it scored four runs on seven hits.
Booth and Isgro had RBI singles in the second and fourth innings, respectively to give Kutztown a 2-0 lead. Booth started the sixth inning with a double. Hannum, Jen Stow, Sam Derr, and Hetzler all followed with singles. Stow's bases-loaded single doubled the Golden Bears' advantage to 4-0. By the time, Hetzler reached base, the Golden Bears enjoyed a 6-0 lead.
Stow and Hetzler led the Kutztown offensive barrage with four hits each. Isgro contributed three hits and
Stephanie Graver (Peach Bottom, PA/Solanco) added two hits as the Golden Bears got their trip started with a bang.
Monica Glomb (Mars, PA/Mars) was the winning pitcher in the first game and Derr earned the win the second game for Kutztown. The Golden Bears will face a pair of tests Sunday morning when they battle Wayne State College at 9:30 a.m. and 16th-ranked Tampa starting at 11:30 a.m.
--KU--
