Box Score 1 | Box Score 2



Kutztown 4, Bloomsburg 3 (HTML Box Score)
 
Bloomsburg 11, Kutztown 3 (5 inn.) (HTML Box Score)
 
Spring Sports Fest Photo Gallery
 
KUTZTOWN, Pa. – Danielle Sienko (Philadelphia, Pa./William Penn Charter) hit a walk-off single to score Rachel Lawes (Reading, Pa./Governor Mifflin) from second base and the lift the Kutztown University softball team to a 4-3 opening win over Bloomsburg University on Friday afternoon. KU dropped the second Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Eastern Division game in five innings, 11-3.
 
Friday's doubleheader was one of the focal points of PSECU's Spring Sports Fest. With home baseball and softball games being played, fans came out to North Campus Field and along with enjoying some afternoon softball, indulged in some additional food options such as funnel cake, water ice, and free hot dogs and popcorn for all students, staff and faculty.
 
Dominique Ficara (Swedesboro, N.J./Kingsway Regional (Hofstra)) held a no-hitter through the first 5.2 innings of game one. A single through the left side by Hannah Moir broke up the no-hit bid with two outs in the fifth inning, putting two runners on base. Chrissy Belko followed with a two-run triple in the right-center gap to give Bloomsburg a 2-0 lead.
 
Kutztown responded with three runs in the bottom of the sixth inning, all with two outs. With runners on second and third, Savannah Nierintz (Clifton Heights, Pa./Upper Darby) drove a single to center field to score both runners and tie the game at 2-2. She advanced to second on a fielding error by the center fielder and scored on a RBI single by fellow freshman Marka Ballard (Redwood City, CA/Mercy Burlingame) the following at-bat for a 3-2 lead.
 
Bloomsburg's Sarah Bertoni drove the first pitch of the seventh inning deep over the left field wall to tie the game at 3-3. In the bottom half of the inning, Lawes led off with a single through the left side, was moved over to second on a sacrifice bunt by Morgan Booth (Stroudsburg, PA/Stroudsburg), and scored on the single to center field by Sienko.
 
Ballard had three of Kutztown's eight hits in the opener with a 3-for-3 outing. Ficara pitched a complete game, her 20th of the season, and allowed four hits with seven strikeouts.
 
The Golden Bears did not open as strongly in the nightcap as they would have liked, committing two errors on the first three batters of the game. It led to four unearned runs in the first inning for the Huskies. Belko homered for the first time of the game in the second inning for a 5-0 score.
 
With the bases loaded and two outs in the third, Sienko drove in two runs with a single to right-center field, and Colleen Smith (Islip Terrace, NY/East Islip (Hofstra)) cut the deficit to 5-3 with a single on the first pitch in the next at-bat.
 
Belko homered for the second time of the game in the fourth inning to extend the lead to 6-3, but Bloomsburg's five runs in the fifth, four of which came with two outs, opened the game to an eight-run difference at 11-3. Ballard nearly hit a home run with two outs in the bottom half of the inning, but had her potential homer was caught at the fence by the Bloomsburg centerfielder.
 
Bloomsburg needed just nine hits to score its 11 runs due to four Kutztown errors. Kutztown used three pitchers in the setback as six of the 11 runs were unearned.
 
Kutztown closes out its season on Saturday, April 25 with a road doubleheader at East Stroudsburg University beginning at 1 p.m.