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CLERMONT, Fl. – The Kutztown University softball team split its pair of game on Friday, dropping its opener with Slippery Rock University 7-6 and responding with an 11-0, five-inning victory over the New York Institute of Technology at the National Training Center.
 
KU-ROCK
 
Senior Brianna Knipe (Bethlehem, PA/Liberty) led the Golden Bears (9-9) in its setback to Slippery Rock with a grand slam in the fourth inning. It was part of a 2-for-3 afternoon for Knipe.
 
Knipe's bomb answered a home run by The Rock in the previous inning by Katie Saluga that gave them a 2-1 lead over the Golden Bears after three innings. Following Knipe's home run that gave Kutztown a 5-2 lead in the fourth, Saluga hit her second home run of the game in the fifth inning, this one a three-run homer to left field with two outs to tie the game at 5-5.
 
Senior Nicole Henninger (Reading, PA./Muhlenberg) gave Kutztown back the lead in the bottom half of the sixth inning with an RBI single to score Morgan Booth (Stroudsburg, PA/Stroudsburg), this week's Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Eastern Division Player of the Week, giving Kutztown a 6-5 lead.
 
Slippery Rock scored the final two runs of the game. With two runners in scoring position with one out, it recorded a sacrifice fly and an RBI single to plate two and regain the lead for the final time.
 
Kutztown's leadoff batter reached base in both the sixth and seventh innings, but it was unable to move the runner any further than first base.
 
Along with Knipe, Henninger had a multi-hit game (2-for-3) for the Golden Bears.
 
KU-NYIT
 
Kutztown belted 14 hits in the nightcap against NYIT. It had five players record multi-hit games including a 3-for-4 performance by Henninger. NYIT's five errors also led to Kutztown breaking the game open and eventually ending the contest after five innings.
 
Following a two-out double by Maria Isgro (Galloway, NJ/Absegami) in the first inning, Colleen Smith (Islip Terrace, N.Y./East Islip (Hofstra)) put KU on the board with an RBI single to score Isgro and give KU a 1-0 lead.
 
The Golden Bears scored six of their 11 runs in the third inning. Booth led off the inning with a single, Isgro followed by reaching off an NYIT error, and both runners scored off Smith's second RBI hit of the game with a two-run single aided by a throwing error by the right fielder.
 
Henninger knocked in Smith with an RBI double the following at-bat, and with the bases loaded and two outs, NYIT's center fielder committed an error that scored all three runners to give Kutztown a 7-0 lead after three innings.
 
Kutztown scored its final four runs in the fifth inning, both coming on NYIT errors. Lindsey Kelley (Stafford, VA/North Stafford) and Jessica Kurtz (Pottstown, PA/Pottsgrove) each got a hit to put runners on the corners with one out. Hetzler then reached on an error by the second baseman to score both Kelley and Kurtz giving KU a 9-0 advantage. With two outs and Booth and Isgro in scoring position, Henninger reached on an error by the shortstop to plate both runners and end the game.
 
Mary Kociencki (Columbia, N.J./Sparta ) picked up the win with five scoreless innings on the mound for Kutztown. She allowed five hits, had three strikeouts, and walked one batter.
 
The Golden Bears close their spring break trip on Saturday, March 23 to take on Merrimack at 9 a.m. at Hancock Park.