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Kutztown 9, Lock Haven 2 (HTML Box Score)
 
Kutztown 8, Lock Haven 0 (5 inn.) (HTML Box Score)
 
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KUTZTOWN, Pa. – The Kutztown University softball team scored 17 runs in three combined innings in a doubleheader sweep of Lock Haven University on Tuesday. KU won the opening Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Eastern Division game at North Campus Field 9-2, and earned a five-inning, 8-0 win in the nightcap.
 
After trailing 2-0 following a two-out, two-run homer from Lock Haven, the Golden Bears batted around the lineup and struck for nine runs in the bottom of the fourth inning in the opener. Three players drove in multiple runs in the inning, highlighted by Mary Kociencki (Columbia, N.J./Sparta )'s three runs and two-run home run in the inning.
 
Kutztown scored its first four runs before recording an out. Sophomore Danielle Sienko (Philadelphia, Pa./William Penn Charter) drove in two runs with a game-tying double, and was driven in with Kociencki's home run the following at-bat. KU loaded the bases with a Savannah Nierintz (Clifton Heights, Pa./Upper Darby) single and walks by Lisa Lawson (Morgantown, Pa./Twin Valley) and Jackie Hetzler (Sewell, NJ/Washington Township).
 
With two outs, Morgan Booth (Stroudsburg, PA/Stroudsburg) walked in a run to give KU a 5-2 lead, Colleen Smith (Islip Terrace, NY/East Islip (Hofstra)) hit a bases-clearing double off the left field fence to extend the lead to 8-2, and Kociencki drove in Smith and her third run of the game with a double down the left field line to cap the scoring at 9-2 through four innings.
 
Kociencki was also fantastic in the circle for the Golden Bears (10-13, 4-2 PSAC East) in the opener. Besides the two-out homer in the second inning, she was nearly flawless as she notched three strikeouts in the complete game victory.
 
Kutztown picked up where it left off and scored four runs in the first inning of the nightcap. Booth opened the scoring with a bunt to the right side that got past the two shifted infielders and was legged out for an infield double. Two batters later, Sienko belted a three-run homer to center field to give KU the early four-run lead.
 
Junior pitcher Dominique Ficara (Swedesboro, N.J./Kingsway Regional (Hofstra)) kept Lock Haven off the scoreboard and off the base paths, for the most part, to keep the lead secured. In five innings, she allowed four hits with a strikeout. The five innings was all she needed to pitch, as Kutztown plated four runs in the bottom of the fifth inning to end the game.
 
Smith and Sienko hit back-to-back RBI singles to right field with one out to push the lead to 6-0. Following a Lock Haven pitching change, Kociencki hit a RBI single up the middle and Nierintz walked to load the bases with one out. Marka Ballard (Redwood City, CA/Mercy Burlingame) then hit a ground ball to third base, the throw went home for the force, but hit pinch-runner Ashley Lechner (Willow Street, PA/Lampeter-Strasburg) on the helmet and end the game at a 8-0 final score.
 
The Golden Bears remain home tomorrow, Wednesday, April 2 to take on Mansfield University at North Campus Field at 2:30 p.m.