PEMBROKE, N.C. – The Kutztown University softball team had a pair of down-to-the-wire games on Saturday. It suffered an opening 5-4 loss to Winston-Salem State on a walk-off homer, but rallied in extra innings in the nightcap as freshman
Taylor Knappenberger (Schnecksville, Pa./Parkland) drove in the game-winning run in the eighth inning in KU's 5-4 win over UNC Pembroke.
Gabby Tareila (Limerick, Pa./Spring-Ford) drove in three runs and went 3-for-4 at the plate in the opener against Winston-Salem State. She hit a two-run double in the third and added a third RBI in the seventh that tied the game.
KU trailed 5-3 entering the seventh.
Sara Keeny (Warminster, Pa./William Tennent) dropped a bunt single to open the inning – her second hit of the game – and scored on an RBI triple by
Cheyenne Jones (Levittown, Pa./Harry S Truman (Northwest Florida State)). Jones then scored on a groundball by Tareila to tie the game at 5-5.
Relief pitcher
Savannah Nierintz (Clifton Heights, Pa./Upper Darby) struck out the first batter she faced in the bottom of the seventh, but Winston-Salem's Mercedes Hargett drove the first pitch she saw to left field for a walk-off home run.
In game two, Keeny added three hits from the leadoff position for a team-high five hits Saturday. She scored in the first off Jones' second triple of the day to give KU an early 1-0 lead.
KU added two runs in the third to lead 3-0 off an RBI double from
Bridget Newman (Ardmore, Pa./Haverford) and a run-scoring grounder by
Adrianna Dilal (Webster, N.Y./Webster Schroeder). Newman drove in a sac fly in the seventh to give KU a 4-0 lead as she went into the bottom of the seventh looking for her first shutout of the year in the circle.
UNC Pembroke was not prepared to go away quietly. It scored a game-tying four runs off five hits in the frame to send the game to extra innings and chase Newman.
Blayse Cholish (Peckville, Pa./Valley View) started on second to start the eighth, was sacrificed to third by
Amanda Portoff (Milford, Conn./Joseph A. Foran), and was driven home by Knappenberger the following at-bat.
Nierintz came in for the save in the eighth, tallying two strikeouts and a groundout for KU's 5-4 win.
The Golden Bears close out the UNC Pembroke Invitational on Sunday, Feb. 5, at 10 a.m. for a rematch against Winston-Salem State.
