Box Score 1 | Box Score 2



CLERMONT, Fla. – Sara Keeny (Warminster, Pa./William Tennent) of the Kutztown University softball team nabbed her 100th career stolen base and KU bounced back from an early loss during the day to win its second game Thursday for a two-game split down in Clermont, Fla.
 
After falling to No. 16 Wayne State 7-5 in the opening game of the evening, the Golden Bears (8-9 overall) bounced back to salvage a split with a 13-2 dominating win that ended in a quick five innings in the latter portion of the night over Salem.
 
Keeny extended her hit streak to 20 games, which is tied for second all-time in program history. She concluded the day with four hits and two RBI. Cheyenne Jones (Levittown, Pa./Harry S Truman (Northwest Florida State)), Jenna Lipowski (Nanticoke, Pa./Greater Nanticoke Area) and Hannah Auvil (Baltimore, Md./Sparrows Point) each had three hits, and Tamara Jennings (Philadelphia, Pa./Nazareth Academy) finished the day with four RBI and smashed a two-run home run.
 
Ava Bottigila recorded the victory in the circle against the Tigers, her third win in three days.
 
Kutztown wraps up its spring break trip in Florida with two more games tomorrow, Friday, March 15. KU will take on Le Moyne at 4 p.m., followed by a game with Northwood at 6:15 p.m. KU lost to Le Moyne 8-2 back on Feb. 17.
 
Kutztown 13, Salem 2
 
It did not take long for Kutztown to get the upper hand in this one.
 
The Maroon and Gold recorded runs in every inning that they came to the plate. They scored twice in the first, once in the second, and then five times in both the third and fourth innings to end their evening early.
 
Jennings opened the scoring on an RBI groundout, followed by Auvil ripping a run-scoring double to right center for a quick 2-0 advantage. A double steal occurred in the second where Keeny took off for second, then allowed freshman Dani Nordyk (Orange, Conn./Amity) to come home for KU's third run of the game.
 
The third inning's five-run onslaught was highlighted by runs batted in from Jones, Nordyk and Keeny, with the latter two reaching extra-base hit status. With a runner on, Nordyk connected on her first career homerun. Keeny then followed up with a two-run triple, the 11th of her career, which ranks in a tie for fourth all-time in program history.
 
After Salem got on the board for the first time in the top of the fourth, the Maroon and Gold answered with another five-run inning. Jones created two runs, first by her run-scoring single, then by stealing second and allowing Auvil to come home on the throw. Kristin Kaleycik (Bethlehem, Pa./Liberty) then hit her second triple this season that brought home two runners. Kiera Brown (Nanticoke, Pa./Greater Nanticoke Area) later got into the action, earning her first hit this season, an RBI double to center field to cap Kutztown's final run of the game.
 
Freshman Bridget Bailey (Norwood, Pa./Interboro) closed the doors then on Salem, and pitched the last inning-and-a-third.
 
Wayne State 7, Kutztown 5
 
The Warriors, who are battle-tested so far this season, having gone 4-2 against nationally-ranked opponents, scored the game's first five runs.
 
Kutztown found itself down 5-0 after five innings, but got two back in the sixth on a two-run long-ball from Jennings.
 
However, the momentum was quickly stopped by Wayne State in its next at-bats in the seventh, as it got those two runs back.
 
Alyssa Donato (Cedarville, N.J./Cumberland Regional) doubled doubled down the left field line, scoring two, and Jennings tallied an RBI sacrifice fly as Kutztown brought home three runners, but could not complete the comeback attempt, falling just two runs short.