Box Score 1 | Box Score 2



West Virginia Wesleyan 3, Kutztown 2 (HTML Box Score)
 
West Virginia State 13, Kutztown 12 (8 inn.) (HTML Box Score)
 
SALEM, Va. – The Kutztown University softball team dropped a pair of games on Friday evening on the first night of the three-day Salem Invitational at the James I. Moyer Sports Complex. KU fell to West Virginia Wesleyan 3-2 in the opener and 13-12 in eight innings against West Virginia State.
 
#22 West Virginia Wesleyan 3, Kutztown 2
 
Continuing the Salem-related theme from May, the Golden Bears (3-8) again saw a ranked team in the 22nd-ranked West Virginia Wesleyan Bobcats. The Bobcats (13-3) came into the game on a six-game winning streak, providing an aggressive lineup from top to bottom. The game also acted as a rematch of the 2012 NCAA Atlantic Super Regionals, in which the Golden Bears won the three-game series at North Campus Field to advance to the National Championship Finals.
 
Kutztown drew first blood. After striking out three-up and three-down against Bobcats freshman pitcher Kristina Nelson, KU briefly saw its offense come to life. Senior first baseman Colleen Smith (Islip Terrace, NY/East Islip (Hofstra)) led off the second inning with a single. Two batters later, sophomore shortstop Danielle Sienko (Philadelphia, Pa./William Penn Charter) slammed a pitch beyond the centerfield wall for a two-run homer to give KU a 2-0 lead. The round-tripper marked the first home run of the season for the team. The Golden Bears followed with two consecutive walks, but Nelson retired the next two batters to keep the score 2-0.
 
Those outs were the first two in a string of 17 batters retired in a span of 19 plate appearances for Kutztown to end the game. With Nelson controlling the game for West Virginia Wesleyan, it came up to pitchers Dominique Ficara (Swedesboro, N.J./Kingsway Regional (Hofstra)) and Mary Kociencki (Columbia, N.J./Sparta ) to maintain the lead. Unfortunately, the Bobcats kept pressure by reaching with their leadoff batters in the final five team at-bats.
 
In the second inning, Ficara forced a ground out to third base to retire the side with two left on base. In the third inning, Kociencki came in relief and left two more on base by striking out Bobcats clean-up hitter Olivia Gore. However, the third time became a charm for West Virginia Wesleyan. In the fifth inning, with two runners in scoring position and two outs, Jaclyn Omichinski hit a game-tying two-run single. She sent a grounder just past the diving glove of Sienko. Kociencki retired the side two batters later, keeping it a 2-2 ball game.
 
After Kutztown went down in order in the top of the sixth, the Bobcats quickly grabbed the lead in the bottom frame. On a two-strike count, WVWC catcher Megan Malenstyn hit a solo home run to give the Bobcats a 3-2 lead. Kociencki later retired the side to keep it a one-run game.
 
The Golden Bears looked to return the favor in the seventh. Freshman third baseman Marka Ballard (Redwood City, CA/Mercy Burlingame) hit a one-out single, giving her nine hits in as many starts. However, a strikeout by sophomore catcher Lindsey Kelley (Stafford, VA/North Stafford) and a lineout by freshman outfielder Lisa Lawson (Morgantown, Pa./Twin Valley) ended the game.
 
Nelson finished with 12 strikeouts in her complete game victory, giving the Golden Bears their third game with a dozen strikeouts or more at the plate. Kutztown falls to 0-3 in those games. Also, the game marks KU's first loss during the opponent's final team at-bat and its first loss when scoring the game's first run. Finally, the Golden Bears fall to 0-7 when scoring two runs or fewer.
 
On the positive side, Sienko's homer provided her third multi-RBI game of the season, which leads the Golden Bears. Also, Kutztown limited the Bobcats to a tie for their fewest runs scored all season thus far.
 
West Virginia State 13, Kutztown 12 (8 innings)
 
The nightcap offered just about anything possible in a softball game. Unfortunately, five errors and the failure to close out the Yellow Jackets defensively cost the Golden Bears a key regional win. In a sharp contrast to Kutztown's extra-inning win in the 2013 NCAA Regionals over West Virginia State, this game saw a slew of big hits spread out over this eight-inning game. The two teams combined for only five scoreless frames in 16 tries.
 
Unfortunately, in the end, West Virginia State (7-5) tied the game in the bottom of the seventh and won with a four-run eighth inning to give Kutztown (3-8) its most heartbreaking loss of the season. The Golden Bears now reached a new low-water mark at five games under .500.
 
Kutztown started the game by putting up a crooked number in the top of the first inning, setting the tone for the team's best offensive output of the season. After senior outfielder Jackie Hetzler (Sewell, NJ/Washington Township) took her first of three hit by pitches, sophomore infielder Rachel Lawes (Reading, Pa./Governor Mifflin) followed with an RBI triple to centerfield. Senior first baseman Colleen Smith (Islip Terrace, NY/East Islip (Hofstra)) later sent Lawes home with an RBI on a fielder's choice to give the Golden Bears a 2-0 lead.
 
However, the Yellow Jackets used small ball to score a run back in the bottom frame. Leadoff hitter Hannah Griffith reached on an infield single and advanced in the next two plate appearances. Dee Dee Loftis came through for WVSU with a two-out RBI single to make the score 2-1 through one inning. In the second inning, defense failed the Golden Bears. Three errors keyed a four-run frame for West Virginia State, marking the most runs allowed by Kutztown in an inning this season. Suddenly, WVSU led 5-2.
 
Fortunately for the Golden Bears, they showed the resiliency that got them to the National Championship Finals last year. Kutztown scored a run in the third inning, thanks to a leadoff double by Smith and an RBI groundout by freshman third baseman Marka Ballard (Redwood City, CA/Mercy Burlingame), and two runs in the fourth inning to tie the game. In the fourth, a double steal allowed Hetzler to score and a Smith RBI single allowed Lawes to score.
 
After the Yellow Jackets to the lead back at 6-5 in the bottom of the fourth, Kutztown grabbed its fourth inning of 4+ runs this season (now 3-1 when achieving that). In the top of the sixth, freshman outfielder Marissa Linquist (West Deptford, N.J./West Deptford) led off with her second double of the game. After both Hetzler and senior outfielder Morgan Booth (Stroudsburg, PA/Stroudsburg) took a hit by pitch, the bases were loaded for Smith. The situation worked out quite well, as Smith cleared the bases with a double the base of the centerfield wall, giving her five RBI for the game. An RBI single by sophomore infielder Danielle Sienko (Philadelphia, Pa./William Penn Charter) then gave Kutztown a 9-6 lead.
 
Unfortunately, timely plays for the West Virginia State offense and untimely plays from the Kutztown defense plagued the Golden Bears in the final three innings. In the bottom of the sixth, the Yellow Jackets set up a scoring opportunity with back-to-back singles to start the inning. Senior infielder Mattie Best capitalized with a two-run double to cut the deficit to 9-8. However, the Yellow Jackets were still trailing going in the final out of the seventh. With only a runner at first and two outs, Victoria Crawford hit a fly ball to right field that sailed just far enough over Booth for the game-tying triple, sending the game to extra innings at 9-9.
 
Due to the tournament rules, the eighth inning began with each team having a runner start at second. This eighth inning played out as expected, providing a surreal sequence for the two defending conference champions. Kutztown scored three runs in the top half, getting a two-out RBI single by Ballard and a pinch-hit two-out, two-run double from freshman Lisa Lawson (Morgantown, Pa./Twin Valley). However, West Virginia State got a break in the bottom half as leadoff batter Sabrina Schouten's swing back to pitcher Mary Kociencki (Columbia, N.J./Sparta ) resulted in an error and a Yellow Jacket run. Two batters later, with the bases loaded, two-way player Alana Weyant tied the game she started as a pitcher with a two-run single. With the score now 12-12, the Yellow Jackets focused on the final run. They moved over a runner to third with a sacrifice, and they still only had one out. This allowed Sydney Kaplan to send a fly ball to centerfield deep enough over the shallow outfield for the walk-off hit and the 13-12 win.
 
This marked the first loss of the season in which the Golden Bears scored more than two runs, which makes the loss particularly frustrating, but also leaves the signs for an offensive turnaround. Kutztown reached a season high in runs scored (12), hits (14), doubles (five) and total bases (21). However, the Golden Bears were also victimized by a season high in errors (five) and runs allowed (13). Kutztown saw five players recorded multiple hits and three players record multiple RBI, but it also saw all three pitchers sent to the mound allow multiple runs.
 
While the heartbreaking loss finished a long day of travel (six hours from Kutztown to Salem) and softball (more than four hours of game time between the two losses), the Golden Bears can quickly begin to act on their plans for retribution. They play Charleston (WV) at 11 a.m. and Fairmont State at 1 p.m. Saturday from the Moyer Sports Complex for Day Two of the Salem Invitational. Both games can be heard on the Golden Bear Network.