HTML Box Scores: Game 1 | Game 2 MILLERSVILLE, Pa. – The Kutztown University softball team battled through 11 innings in the nightcap of a doubleheader against Millersville University on Sunday afternoon. Its defense came through in the final moments to cap a sweep over the Marauders with a 6-2 win in game one and a 6-5, 11-inning win in game two in the opening series of Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) action.
The Golden Bears (14-4, 2-0 PSAC East) had big performances up and down the roster in its extra-inning marathon. The 11-inning game marked Kutztown's longest game since a 12-inning affair at the 2012 NCAA National Championships against UC San Diego on May 17, 2012.
Savannah Nierintz picked up victories in both games, one as a starter and one in relief. Nierintz threw 11.2 innings on Sunday and allowed one earned run with no walks. She improves to a flawless 10-0 in the circle this season, Kutztown's first pitcher to start 10-0 since Samantha Derr opened 26-0 in 2012.
Millersville notched two hits in the first inning of the opener as two doubles gave it a 1-0 lead, but Nierintz held her ground from then on. The sophomore retired the next 14 batters she faced before allowing a single in the sixth inning.
Nierintz moved to 9-0 on the year in the game one win. She allowed two runs – one earned – on five hits with one strikeout. She holds a 0.96 ERA this season.
The Golden Bears used Nierintz's dominance in the circle to fuel it to scoring runs in the third and fourth innings to hold a 2-1 lead through four.
KU took advantage of a Millersville error to lead up to the defining point of game one to help KU command the lead. Two batters after an error on the Millersville first baseman prolonged the inning to put two runners on base,
Krista Schauder stepped up and ripped a three-run homer to right center field to put the Golden Bears in control with a 5-1 lead.
Colleen Smith knocked in a run in the sixth inning to extend Kutztown's lead to 6-1, as a late Millersville run capped the scoring at 6-2. Smith and
Blayse Cholish each had multi-hit games in the opener.
In the nightcap, Kutztown was held scoreless for the first six innings and trailed 2-0 entering the final inning. It put the first two batters on base, as Cholish connected on a two-run triple down the right field line to tie the game at 2-2. The triple allowed fellow freshman
Asja Saito to come up next and drive in Cholish with a sacrifice fly for a 3-2 lead. With two outs, Smith capped the inning with a solo home run for Kutztown's four-run inning.
Millersville did not throw in the towel despite the big KU inning. It opened the inning with a double, and with one out, Maria Spinosa belted a game-tying home run to tie the game at 4-4.
In extra innings, Kutztown had a chance to take the lead in the top of the ninth. With Saito on first with two outs,
Danielle Sienko reached base off a fielding error by the right fielder. Saito advanced to third and tried to score off the outfield error, but was thrown out at the plate to end the threat.
With the tiebreaker rule in effect in the 10th inning, placing a runner on second base to start the inning, Schauder came up big again for the Golden Bears with the go-ahead double to score Sienko from second for a 5-4 lead in the 10th.
Millersville answered once again with the game-tying run, this one coming off a KU error. With runners on the corners, Millersville attempted a double steal and forced an error on the KU catcher to tie the game at 5-5. Millersville then dropped a sacrifice bunt to move the runner over to third with one out, and on the ensuing play, the Marauders tried the win the game on a groundball to second base, but Kutztown's Saito threw out the runner at home to keep KU alive. Millersville did not attempt to send the runner home on two straight singles to load the bases with two outs, as Nierintz got out of the jam in the 10th with a fly ball to left field.
Kutztown used a sacrifice bunt and a ground ball to re-take a 6-5 lead in the 11th. Millersville tried the same thing and sacrificed the runner over to third, but a groundball back to the pitcher kept the runner at third, and a popup to first base ended the game to lift KU to a 2-0 start in conference play.
Four Golden Bears had multi-hit games in the nightcap as the team notched 11 hits. Along with Smith's second multi-hit game of the day, Sienko, Saito and
Sam Fraser each had two hits.
Kutztown's next scheduled game is set for Friday, March 27 at Lock Haven University, but stay tuned to
www.KUBears.com for any potential make-up games this week.
