Box Score 1 | Box Score 2



Kutztown 1, Lock Haven 0 (HTML Box Score)
 
Lock Haven 3, Kutztown 2 (HTML Box Score)
 
LOCK HAVEN, Pa. – Junior pitcher Dominique Ficara (Swedesboro, N.J./Kingsway Regional (Hofstra)) threw a shutout for the second straight day as her two-hitter in the Kutztown University softball team's opening game at Lock Haven University highlighted a Saturday split in Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) action. KU took the opener 1-0 and dropped the nightcap 3-2.
 
Ficara threw 97 pitches in the opening win for the Golden Bears (16-25, 8-14 PSAC East). She walked her lone batter in the first inning, lost her no-hit bid in the bottom of the fourth with a two-out single, and allowed a two-out single to right field in the bottom of the seventh.
 
Danielle Sienko (Philadelphia, Pa./William Penn Charter) gave Ficara all the run support she would need with a RBI double in the first inning. Leadoff hitter Jackie Hetzler (Sewell, NJ/Washington Township) was a hit by a pitch, was sacrificed to second by Morgan Booth (Stroudsburg, PA/Stroudsburg), and scored on Sienko's double to right-center field.
 
The double was one of five Kutztown hits off Lock Haven pitcher Rachel Mouillesseaux. She had one strikeout and walked three batters.
 
Kutztown led 2-0 in the nightcap with a sacrifice fly by Hetzler in the second inning and off an error by the bald Eagle right fielder in the fourth. One inning after KU took the 2-0 lead, Lock Haven notched a two-out, two-run pinch-hit double by Erica Pooler. It nearly turned into a three-run double, but Hetzler combined with the KU shortstop to throw out the runner at home.
 
KU left a runner on second in the fifth inning, and allowed Lock Haven to notch the game-winning hit on a one-out single in the bottom half of the inning. KU could not work a base runner in the sixth or seventh innings.
 
Savannah Nierintz (Clifton Heights, Pa./Upper Darby) started for KU in the circle and was tabbed with the first two runs before getting relieved by Ficara after 3.1 innings. Ficara went the final 2.2 innings and picked up the loss with the final Lock Haven run.
 
Kutztown takes a break from conference play on Wednesday, April 23 to take on Georgian Court University at 2:30 p.m. for Senior Day at North Campus Field.