KUTZTOWN, Pa. – The Kutztown University softball team has had its season's life in the palm of its hand for nearly three weeks. It stood the test of fighting back when on the brink of elimination, and battled through the elements to make its historic run through the postseason. Next for the Golden Bears, is a chance for a return trip to the National Championships in the hunt for the trophy of all trophies.
 
Kutztown hosts the NCAA Softball Atlantic Super Regional on May 17-18 when it takes on West Chester University in a best-of-three series at North Campus Field.
 
It is the second consecutive year that the Golden Bears (32-21) will host the Super Regionals. Kutztown, originally the No. 6 seed in the Atlantic Region, will face West Chester (37-19), the No. 4 seed in the region, at 1 p.m. on Friday, May 17 in the first game of the series. Game two will be on Saturday, May 18 at 1 p.m. and if necessary, game three will follow at approximately 3:30 p.m. on Saturday.
 
The winner of the best-of-three series will advance to the NCAA National Championships in Salem, Va. beginning on Thursday, May 23. Kutztown is looking to advance to the National Championships for the second straight year after becoming the Atlantic Region Champions for the first time in school history last season.
 
The Atlantic Region winner will play the winner of the Midwest Region on May 23 at 5 p.m. Top-ranked Indianapolis (53-6) takes on No. 9 Grand Valley State (42-6) in that Super Regional this weekend.
 
Ticket prices for the Super Regional tournament are $2 for children between the ages of 3-12, $3 for students and seniors, and $7 for adults. Children under the age of 3 are admitted free.
 
This season, Kutztown is 4-1 against West Chester including a postseason win in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) tournament. Kutztown's two most recent wins have been by eight runs in less than seven innings.
 
Friday will be the 105th meeting between Kutztown and West Chester. Dating back to the 1984, Kutztown holds a commanding lead in the series at 85-19, a winning percentage of .817.
 
In Kutztown's three regional wins it held a 0.35 ERA for the lowest mark of any team in the NCAA tournament. Leading the way was sophomore Dominique Ficara (Swedesboro, N.J./Kingsway Regional (Hofstra)) with two complete game shutouts and 16 scoreless innings. For the season, Ficara holds a 2.53 ERA with a team-high 16 wins. She has struck out 94 batters in her first season with the Golden Bears while surrendering 37 walks.
 
Fellow sophomore Mary Kociencki (Columbia, N.J./Sparta ) is also having a stellar season after earning PSAC Eastern Division Freshman of the Year honors last season. She holds a 2.72 ERA this season and has struck out 75 batters. In her last five games in the circle, she has allowed just two runs.
 
At the plate, junior first baseman Colleen Smith (Islip Terrace, N.Y./East Islip (Hofstra)) has been dominant in her first year with the Golden Bears. She leads the team with a .384 batting average, 13 home runs, 49 RBI, a .526 on-base percentage with 37 walks, and a slugging percentage of .726.
 
The vocal leader of the team and one of the best shortstops in the country is senior Brianna Knipe (Bethlehem, PA/Liberty). The PSAC East Athlete of the Year is batting a career-high .370 with 57 hits. The defining moment of Knipe's season was her walk-off home run in the PSAC championship game to give the program its first conference championship in school history.
 
Junior Morgan Booth (Stroudsburg, PA/Stroudsburg) has a team-high 60 hits this season and when reaching base, proves to be a threat at swiping bags. She has 21 stolen bases this year for a team-high 41 runs scored.
 
Senior Katie Lynch (Willow Street, PA/Lampeter-Strasburg) and Nicole Henninger (Reading, PA./Muhlenberg) comprise the remainder of the All-PSAC infield for Kutztown. Lynch is hitting .299 this season and is coming off her go-ahead RBI double in the regional final against Bloomsburg last Sunday to help KU earn the victory.
 
Henninger has returned nicely from her year off last season due to injury. She is batting .320 at the plate and is second on the team with seven homers and 37 RBI.
 
Kutztown advanced from the Atlantic Region 2 bracket hosted by Shippensburg University with an undefeated performance in three games. It defeated West Virginia State 3-1 in 10 innings in game one, earned a 5-0 win over Bloomsburg in game two, and again took down the Huskies in the championship game of the bracket 4-0 in nine innings.
 
West Chester advanced from the Atlantic Region 1 bracket hosted by California University (PA) and also went undefeated in three games. It took down Lock Haven 10-1 in six innings, and then defeated California (PA) 4-3 and 6-3 to earn the school's first-ever bid into the Super Regional tournament.