WEST CHESTER, Pa. (April 13, 2012)—Junior Katie Lynch (Willow Street, PA/Lampeter-Strasburg)'s  (Willow Street, Pa./ Lampeter-Strasburg) three home runs played a huge role in helping the Kutztown University softball team sweep West Chester University 6-1 in both Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) East Division matchups at South Campus Field on Friday afternoon.

Kutztown (38-1 overall, 10-0 PSAC) stretched its winning streak to 30 with Friday's victories. The Golden Bears are currently ranked fifth in the National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) Top 25 poll. Additionally, KU is No. 1 in the NCAA Atlantic Regional poll.

The Golden Rams fell to 23-22 overall and 4-8 in the PSAC.

In the closing game, KU clung to a 3-1 lead heading into the seventh inning.  After Elizabeth Kangas (Douglassville, PA/Daniel Boone) (Douglassville, Pa./ Daniel Boone) reached on a single and found her way around the bases to put KU 4-1, Lynch approached the plate with two outs and smacked her third homer of the day, giving Kutztown the 6-1 advantage. Lynch now leads the team in home runs with ten.

KU posted its first run in the second inning following Lynch's solo home run. In the fourth, Courtney Cawley (Bethlehem, PA/Saucon Valley) (Bethlehem, Pa./ Saucon Valley) recorded a RBI when she used a single through the right side to score Brianna Knipe (Bethlehem, PA/Liberty) (Bethlehem, Pa./ Liberty) who also reached on a single.  The Golden Rams answered in the fifth and sliced KU's lead to 3-1 after Erin Whitman used a single to left field to drive in Abby Block who reached on a hit up the middle. In the sixth inning, Morgan Booth (Stroudsburg, PA/Stroudsburg) (Stroudsburg, Pa./ Stroudsburg) had a triple and drove in Maria Isgro (Galloway, NJ/Absegami) (Galloway, NJ/ Absegami), pushing Kutztown to a comfortable 4-1 advantage.

KU finished with 11 hits in the second game. Kelly Fitzgerald (Upper Darby, PA/Archbishop Prendergast) (Upper Darby, Pa./ Archbishop Pendergast), Kelly Strittmatter (Wyckoff, NJ/Indian Hills) (Wyckoff, NJ/Indian Hills), Lynch, and Knipe each tallied two hits each.

Freshman Tori Marcavage (Collegeville, PA/Perkiomen Valley) (Collegeville, Pa./Perkiomen Valley) recorded her fifth win of the season. Marcavage pitched 4.2 innings and finished with two strikeouts. Sophomore Samantha Derr (Lititz, PA/Warwick) (Lititz, Pa./ Warwick) closed the game for Kutztown and recorded one strikeout. Kate Skokowski took the loss for West Chester.

In the opening game, Kutztown leaped to a quick 1-0 lead in the first. Lynch singled down the left field line to drive in Jackie Hetzler (Sewell, NJ/Washington Township) (Turnersville, NJ/ Washington, Twp) who led off the inning with a single.

In the fourth, Knipe led off with a double to right center, and after reaching third on a sac bunt, Booth singled and scored Knipe to put KU up 2-0. WCU responded in the sixth and cut Kutztown's advantage to 2-1 following a solo homer from Charlotte Conaway.  In the seventh inning, Strittmatter used a hit to score Booth pushing KU to a 3-1 lead. With Heather Hannum (Horsham, PA/Hatboro-Horsham) (Horsham, Pa./ Hatboro-Horsham) and Fitzgerald on first and second, Lynch crushed her first home run on Friday to extend KU's lead to 6-1.

Kutztown's defense held the Golden Rams to just two hits. Derr improved to 21-0 on the year and struck out four in Friday's opener.  Devon Utterback recorded the loss for West Chester.

The Golden Bears are set to face Millersville University on Saturday, April 14 for a doubleheader starting at 1 p.m.