PHOTO GALLERY
KUTZTOWN, Pa. (April 21, 2012)— Nicole Colineri (Scotch Plains, NJ/Scotch Plains-Fanwood) (Scotch Plains, NJ/ Scotch-Plains-Fanwood), Heather Hannum (Horsham, PA/Hatboro-Horsham) (Horsham, Pa./Hatboro-Horsham), and
Kelly Fitzgerald (Upper Darby, PA/Archbishop Prendergast) (Upper Darby, Pa./ Archbishop Pendergast) enjoyed the sights and sounds of a fully-decorated dugout and endless cheers during their Senior Day celebration, Saturday afternoon at North Campus Field.
The Kutztown University softball team went on to sweep East Stroudsburg University, 5-2 and 7-3 in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) East division regular season finale. The Golden Bears improved to 43-2 overall and are 15-1 in the PSAC. Kutztown won the East division and will be the No.1 seed in next week's PSAC Championships.
The seniors made the most of their day as Fitzgerald and Hannum both crushed homers in Game 1.
“Today was surreal but I'm just happy that I'm here at Kutztown,” Fitzgerald said. “This season has been so rewarding and I've met so many great friends on the team. “
Fitzgerald wasted no time in her first at-bat to belt a solo home run with two outs in the first inning to lift Kutztown to a 1-0 lead.
Samantha Derr (Lititz, PA/Warwick) (Lititz, Pa./Warwick) decided to get on the action to belt a two-run homer in the third inning to stretch the lead to 3-0. Derr's home run was her second this season. In the fifth inning, Hannum got her hands on a solo homer to put the Golden Bears up 4-0.
ESU (12-29, 5-11) cut KU's lead to 4-2 in the sixth inning off two hits and a Kutztown error. However, Hannum responded in the sixth after using a single to center field to score Fitzgerald.
KU finished with 12 hits as Fitzgerald led the way and went 3-for-4 with two runs and a RBI. Hannum, Derr, and
Katie Lynch (Willow Street, PA/Lampeter-Strasburg) (Willow Street, Pa./ Lampeter-Strasburg) each finished with two hits and a run. Hannum and Derr both recorded two RBIs.
“It felt amazing to hit a home run on my Senior Day,” Hannum said. “It was great to get the two wins and it's great to play on a team like this. We work well together and we work hard.”
Hannum knows all about hard work as her senior year has been the best in her collegiate career. She currently is batting .310 and has four homers on the season.
Derr held the Warriors to just three hits to capture her 25th win of the season. She finished with three strikeouts.
In Game 2, Kutztown finished with only one hit more than East Stroudsburg but it capitalized off six crucial ESU errors. ESU took the 2-0 lead heading into the bottom of the first until the Golden Bears posted four runs to take the 4-2 advantage. KU also scored two runs in the second inning and East Stroudsburg responded with a run in the third, slicing the lead to 6-3. Kutztown scored its final run in the sixth inning.
Colineri lead the Golden Bears with two hits as Derr, Hannum, Fitzgerald, and
Morgan Booth (Stroudsburg, PA/Stroudsburg) (Stroudsburg, Pa./Stroudsburg) tallied one.
Mary Kociencki (Columbia, N.J./Sparta ) (Columbia, NJ/ Sparta) improved to 10-1 on the season and finished with a game-high five strikeouts.
“It is an incredible feeling to be on this team,” Colineri said. “It's a great group of girls and as a senior I couldn't ask for anything more. This has been an amazing season and I'm happy to end my career this way.”
Kutztown has no plans of ending its season anytime soon. The Golden Bears will take on the No.3 seed in the West Division on Wednesday, April 25 at the PSAC Championships in Hazelton.
