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Box Score 2 Bloomsburg 5, Kutztown 2 (HTML Box Score) Bloomsburg 10, Kutztown 3 (HTML Box Score) BLOOMSBURG, Pa. – The Kutztown University softball team embarked on the final stanza of its regular season on Thursday afternoon, fighting for its playoff life with every game. It was unable to take a step toward the postseason as it dropped 5-2 and 10-3 decisions at Bloomsburg University.
Despite the pair of setbacks, the Golden Bears (17-28, 8-16 PSAC East) remain in postseason contention for the No. 4 seed in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Eastern Division.
Colleen Smith (Islip Terrace, NY/East Islip (Hofstra)) gave Kutztown a 2-0 lead in the first inning of game one with a two-run single through the left side.
Jackie Hetzler (Sewell, NJ/Washington Township) and
Morgan Booth (Stroudsburg, PA/Stroudsburg) opened the game with back-to-back singles, and were put in scoring position with a sacrifice bunt from
Danielle Sienko (Philadelphia, Pa./William Penn Charter). Hetzler had three of Kutztown's eight hits in the opener.
Bloomsburg tied the game with a two-run, two-out single in the second inning, and took a 3-2 lead in the third. Bloomsburg closed the unanswered five-run stretch with a solo home run in the sixth inning.
The Golden Bears jumped out to a lead in the first inning again in the nightcap with a RBI double from
Mary Kociencki (Columbia, N.J./Sparta ). Bloomsburg answered though with four runs in the bottom half of the inning to take a 4-1 lead through one.
Dominique Ficara (Swedesboro, N.J./Kingsway Regional (Hofstra)) and
Marka Ballard (Redwood City, CA/Mercy Burlingame) drove in runs in the third to cut the deficit to 4-3. The lead jumped out to seven runs, however, as Bloomsburg scored five runs in the fifth inning in which Kutztown committed two errors to allow the Huskies to continue their rally.
Bloomsburg's top four hitters in the lineup combined for nine of the team's 15 hits in the nightcap, led by Erika Yanora's 3-for-4 game with a home run.
KU and BU wrap up its four-game series on Friday, April 25 at North Campus Field beginning at 2:30 p.m.
