Box Score



Kutztown 4, Mercyhurst 1 (HTML Box Score)
 
QUAKERTOWN, Pa. – Senior Nicole Henninger (Reading, PA./Muhlenberg) hit a grand slam in the bottom of the sixth inning on a 2-2 count to lift the Kutztown University softball team to a 4-1 victory over Mercyhurst University, earning head coach Judy Lawes her 800th career win on Wednesday afternoon in the first round of the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Championships at Veterans Park.
 
The Golden Bears (26-21) will play West Chester in the second round on Thursday, May 2 at 1 p.m. West Chester, the third seed in the East, defeated Lock Haven, the top seed in the West, 3-1 in the first game on Wednesday. The winner of the Kutztown-West Chester game will play Friday, May 3 at 10 a.m. and the loser will play at 4 p.m. on Thursday in an elimination game.
 
Henninger's slam came with no outs in the sixth inning. Senior catcher Katie Lynch (Willow Street, PA/Lampeter-Strasburg) led off the sixth with a double to the gap in right center field. Mercyhurst pitcher Megan Hopton then walked Colleen Smith (Islip Terrace, N.Y./East Islip (Hofstra)) and Maria Isgro (Galloway, NJ/Absegami) to load the bases with no outs. Henninger, a right-handed bat, drove the pitch the opposite way and leaped in excitement when she saw it go over the right field fence.
 
“I feel so happy for Nicole to get that homer in such a big game,” Lawes said of her senior. “She was getting under the ball and popping up a lot in the beginning of the season, but we've worked on it to get her to level her swing out. She's always been a great hitter and she really came through for us today.”
 
Sophomore pitcher Dominique Ficara (Swedesboro, N.J./Kingsway Regional (Hofstra)) had a brilliant performance on the mound for the Golden Bears. She retired the first 15 batters she faced before running into some trouble in the top of the sixth. Mercyhurst drew a leadoff walk for its first base runner of the day, sacrificed the runner to second, then had an RBI single to center field by Julie Harman to score the runner.
 
Ficara allowed just two hits in her seven innings on the mound. She notched one strikeout as 14 of her 21 outs were groundouts.
 
“Dominique's a down-ball pitcher and did a great job of forcing ground balls today,” Lawes said. “She's a sophomore transfer and didn't play at all during her freshman year, and it shows a lot of character on her part to pitch the game she did today. She's a competitor and wanted to win, and she knew how important it was for us to get a win. It's a good sign for the future.”
 
Lawes is the 19th NCAA Division II coach to reach the 800-win mark. Among active coaches, Lawes is one of 11 to have reached the 800-win plateau. She entered the season as the 28th winningest active coach in Division II in terms of winning percentage at 65.2 percent.
 
Lawes has had a winning record in each of her 25 seasons at KU and holds an overall record of 800-434-2 (.648).
 
“It feels great to get No. 800 in the postseason,” Lawes said. “I'm really proud of the way our team fought hard to get the lead in the sixth inning and hold on for the victory. Every game is close at this level and I feel really good about achieving the mark.”
 
Lawes is coming off the best year not only of her career, but in Kutztown history. In 2012, Lawes led the Golden Bears to their 10th straight appearance in the NCAA Division II Atlantic Regional Championship and reached the NCAA Championships for the first-time in KU history. She has led the Golden Bears to six consecutive 40-win seasons, setting a program record in the 2012 season with 52 wins, and a 33-game winning streak.
 
KU won both the Atlantic Regional and Atlantic Super Regional in 2012.
 
Lawes began her KU coaching career in 1988 and was named the 2012 PSAC East Coach of the Year, the sixth time in her career she has been awarded the title (1989, 1994, 2000, 2007, 2009, and 2012).
 
Henninger went 2-for-3 in the win as Isgro also had a multi-hit game with a perfect 2-for-2 day at the plate with a walk.
 
Kutztown won three of four over West Chester in the regular season. Ficara held a 1.00 ERA in two games started against the Golden Rams this season including a complete game shutout on April 14. In her two games on the mound against West Chester, she notched 10 strikeouts with one walk while holding hitters to a .176 batting average.