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KUTZTOWN, Pa. – Kutztown University's top two pitchers led it to victory in a pair of non-conference games Tuesday at North Campus Field. The KU softball team topped the University of the Sciences 6-0 in the opener, behind a shutout from Savannah Nierintz (Clifton Heights, Pa./Upper Darby), and 7-4 in the nightcap, aided by six innings of one-run relief pitching from Bridget Newman (Ardmore, Pa./Haverford).
 
Gia Santigate (Staten Island, N.Y./St. Joseph by-the-Sea) capped a three-run first inning in the opener with her second home run of the season. Cheyenne Jones (Levittown, Pa./Harry S Truman (Northwest Florida State)) opened the scoring with an RBI single, and later in the inning, Santigate – a freshman – belted a drive to deep left-center field for the 3-0 lead.
 
Santigate went 2-for-3 in the opener with three RBI.
 
Nierintz tossed her sixth shutout of the year and 13th of her career in the opener. She started by striking out 7-of-9 possible outs through three innings and went on to allow two hits and only one runner to reach scoring position. She moves to 16-1 on the year.
 
After the three-run, three-hit first inning, Devils pitcher Kyla Colburn settled in by pitching four no-hit innings to get to the sixth. KU added insurance runs in the sixth with RBI doubles from Santigate and Newman, along with a sacrifice fly from Asja Saito (Pickering, Ontario/Pickering) for a 6-0 lead and eventual victory.
 
In game two, Kutztown pounded out 12 hits in its 7-4 victory. The Devils gained momentum in the top of the second with three runs, chasing the KU starter, but relief pitcher Newman entered and was able to limit the damage to allow KU to escape trailing 3-1.
 
KU took Newman's efforts and used it as fuel to build some momentum of its own. In the bottom-half of the second, KU used two bunt singles, two walks, and two groundouts to score three runs and regain a 4-3 lead.
 
Jones and Tamara Jennings (Philadelphia, Pa./Nazareth Academy) highlighted KU's run-scoring plays with RBI down the stretch of game two.
 
Newman picked up the win to even her season record at 4-4 on the year. She threw six innings in relief and allowed three hits.
 
Freshman Angie Carty (Harleysville, Pa./Souderton Area) had a solid day at the plate, making the most of her spot-start in centerfield for a 2-for-3, two-run day at the plate.
 
Kutztown returns to conference action this weekend, hosting West Chester University on Friday, April 14 at 2:30 p.m., and Shippensburg University on Saturday, April 15 at 1 p.m.