MINNEOLA, Fla. – The Kutztown University softball team scored a total of seven runs in the latter three innings of its second game of a double-header Tuesday to pull out ahead of Charleston (WV) and then hung on for a 10-6 victory, earning a two-game split after it fell just short of starting its spring break trip undefeated, losing game one 7-6 to Concord at the Minneola Athletic Complex in Minneola, Fla.
 
The Golden Bears (6-7 overall) have won three of their first four games down south and are nearing the halfway point of their trip, with six games left to play over the course of the next three days.
 
Sara Keeny (Warminster, Pa./William Tennent) and Cheyenne Jones (Levittown, Pa./Harry S Truman (Northwest Florida State)) each had six-hit days for KU. Keeny extended her current hit streak to 16 games, and also added three runs, entering the top-10 in program history with 127 in her career. In tying her career-high in hits in a game twice, Jones also finished the day with five total RBI. Jenna Lipowski (Nanticoke, Pa./Greater Nanticoke Area) went 5-for-7 with three RBI.
 
Kutztown will take on Fairmont State at 1:30 p.m. and Drury at 3:45 p.m. tomorrow, Wednesday, March 13, at the Hancock Recreational Park in Clermont, Fla.
 
Kutztown 10, Charleston 6
 
In the nightcap of the day, the Maroon and Gold offense recorded double-digits runs for the second time in as many days, after doing it just once in the previous 10 games.
 
Keeny, Jones and Lipowski all went 3-for-4 as Jones and Lipowski had the three runs batted in and Keeny added two runs scored. Katelyn Ostaszewski (Philadelphia, Pa./Archbishop Ryan) had a hit, two runs and two RBI, Tamara Jennings (Philadelphia, Pa./Nazareth Academy) picked up one hit, one RBI and two runs scored and Hannah Auvil (Baltimore, Md./Sparrows Point) contributed a hit and run scored in rounding out a KU offense that reached 12 hits in the game.
 
Kutztown wasted little time, racking up three runs on base hits by Lipowski and Jones in its first at-bats in the top of the first inning. But the Golden Eagles answered straight away, matching KU by scoring three runs in their first at-bats of the game to tie the score at three.
 
After a scoreless next three innings, the Golden Bears rallied for two runs with two outs to take back the lead, one that they would not relinquish for the remainder of the game. In that frame, Keeny singled to center field with one out, then after the next batter made an out, the senior stole second for her 99th career theft. Jennings then followed with an RBI single and advanced on the Charleston throw home. Lipowski then brought Jennings home easily with an RBI double to right field and a 5-3 lead.
 
The sixth inning is where KU took over, scoring four runs once again with two outs. Jones led off with a single through the right side. Two batters later, Keeny walked to put two runners on with two outs. Ostaszewski then doubled to bring around Keeny and pinch-runner Alyssa Oakley (Allentown, Pa./Parkland). Jennings would reach on a fielding error by the Golden Eagles left fielder, scoring a run, and Lipowski singled to center to cap the four-run frame.
 
Charleston chipped away at its deficit by adding three runs in the bottom-half of the sixth, but KU tacked on an insurance run via two straight doubles by Auvil and Jones to take the game 10-6.
 
Sophomore Ava Bottiglia (Hummelstown, Pa./Lower Dauphin) recorded her first win this season, pitching 5.0 innings, allowing six hits, three runs and struck out three batters.
 
Concord 7, Kutztown 6
 
In a back-and-forth affair, Kutztown scored last, but it wasn't enough. With the tying runner on second base and two outs, a hit eluded the Maroon and Gold offense as they fell one-run shy of completing two consecutive, two-game sweeps.
 
The first three innings saw both teams bring home runs. Concord scored twice in both the first and second innings and once in the third, while KU recorded two runs in the second and one in each of the first and third.
 
Both offenses brought the lumber, but it was the defensive miscues that hurt the Golden Bears in this one, committing four errors, which turned into four unearned runs.
 
Keeny and Jones both had three hits, including a double and two RBI by Jones. Lipowski smacked two hits and Auvil ripped a double.