PSAC Championship Central  |  KU Tournament Stats
 
QUAKERTOWN, Pa. – The Kutztown University softball team went through a whirlwind of emotions on Friday.
 
After staking Gannon University five runs and continuing a suspended game due to rain, KU rattled off 10 unanswered runs for a 10-5 win to keep its tournament alive. In its ensuing game, KU led Lock Haven University 3-0 and held a no-hitter through four, but the Bald Eagles soared to a similar comeback with five unanswered runs, capped with a walk-off, two-run homer to down KU 5-3 and end Kutztown's run in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Championships at Veterans Park in Quakertown.
 
The Golden Bears (31-15) pulled off a miraculous comeback in the opener vs. Gannon (20-21). The teams resumed their game from Thursday due to rain with Gannon holding a 4-0 lead to start the fourth inning. The lead grew to 5-0 after a solo shot in the fourth, putting Kutztown in a tight spot to keep its tournament alive.
 
Kutztown rattled off three runs in the bottom of the fourth to draw within two at 5-3. Blayse Cholish (Peckville, Pa./Valley View), Rachel Lawes (Reading, Pa./Governor Mifflin) and Sara Keeny (Warminster, Pa./William Tennent) all hit RBI singles in the inning.
 
Gabby Tareila (Limerick, Pa./Spring-Ford) homered on the first pitch she saw in the sixth inning to pull KU within one at 5-4. A pair of singles by Cholish and Lawes set up the game-tying RBI by Keeny with one out in the inning.
 
Danielle Sienko (Philadelphia, Pa./William Penn Charter) gave KU a 6-5 lead and loaded the bases with an RBI single to score Lawes, setting up Danielle Amato (Henderson, Nev./Coronado) for even more late-game heroics. On a 2-1 count, she belted a ball over the left field fence for a grand slam and solidifying Kutztown's eventual 10-5 victory.
 
Savannah Nierintz (Clifton Heights, Pa./Upper Darby) won her 18th game of the year in the circle.
 
Kutztown faced off against Lock Haven in the next elimination game in a rematch of the opening game of the tournament. Nierintz held a no-hitter through four and KU led 3-0 after Amato's sixth RBI of the day.
 
Lock Haven responded in the fifth by not only breaking up the no-hitter, but tying the game at 3-3 off a pair of doubles and a sacrifice fly.
 
Down to the final inning, the game was set for someone to crown a hero, but unfortunately for the Golden Bears, it wouldn't end up being them. Lock Haven's Moriah Lindsey hit a walk-off, two-run homer to left field to end it in the bottom of the seventh for the 5-3 final.
 
For the tournament, Cholish led Kutztown with a .455 batting average, while Keeny had a team-high six hits and 3-for-3 in stolen bases. Amato posted a team-best six RBI, all coming on Friday.
 
Kutztown now awaits the NCAA Selection Show on Monday, May 2 at 10 a.m. to see if its season will continue into the NCAA Tournament.