KUTZTOWN, Pa. – From the pitching to the hitting, it was night-and-day for the Kutztown University softball team Monday following its last outing last Thursday. KU totaled 19 hits and allowed just two runs in winning both games of a Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) double header Monday afternoon at North Campus Field to send out its four seniors in style.
 
On the wrong end of a two-game sweep at Shippensburg in the prior twin bill last week, the Golden Bears (31-16 overall, 8-6), who had won 16 of their previous 18 games before the trip to Ship, KU quickly righted the ship and looked the part of the team that leads the PSAC in wins.
 
Taylor Knappenberger (Schnecksville, Pa./Parkland), Jenna Lipowski (Nanticoke, Pa./Greater Nanticoke Area), Hannah Auvil (Baltimore, Md./Sparrows Point) and Katelyn Ostaszewski (Philadelphia, Pa./Archbishop Ryan) all finished the day with three hits at the plate. Auvil had a career-high three RBI in game one.
 
In the circle, freshmen Amber Brugger (Levittown, Pa./Neshaminy) and Bridget Bailey (Norwood, Pa./Interboro) each threw complete games as Brugger earned the victory in the opener and Bailey in the night cap. Bailey struck out 13 batters, a season-high and the most by a KU pitcher since the 2010 season when Katlin Arbogast also punched out 13. Bailey (14) and Brugger (11) are in the top-10 in the conference in wins, while Bailey is third in strikeouts with 137.
 
Seniors Erin Fortney (Bedford, Nova Scotia/Bishop Macdonell (Rollins)), Tamara Jennings (Philadelphia, Pa./Nazareth Academy), Cheyenne Jones (Levittown, Pa./Harry S Truman (Northwest Florida State)) and Sara Keeny (Warminster, Pa./William Tennent) were all honored prior to today's twin bill for their productive careers both on the field and in the classroom for the Maroon and Gold.
 
Keeny recorded two hits, a run scored, and RBI and a stolen base Monday, with one of the hits a double. She leads the PSAC with 81 hits and 54 runs scored and is four hits shy from the program record for hits in a career (274). Jennings also had two hits and scored a run. She is third in the conference in runs scored (43) and fourth in RBI (41). Jones finished with a base hit and a run scored, and is fifth with 39 RBI, and Fortney also scored a run as all four were able to make it around the bases.
 
Freshman Dani Nordyk (Orange, Conn./Amity) also brought the lumber to the plate, tying a season-high with two hits in game one, while also adding an RBI and run scored.
 
Kutztown will play in its final non-conference double header of the regular season tomorrow, Tuesday, April 23, at Shepherd University beginning at 2:30 p.m. The Rams were ranked second in the Atlantic Region poll last week, while KU was sixth.
 
Kutztown 8, Millersville 2
 
The Marauders (20-27, 3-9) went ahead, scoring twice in the top of the second to put Kutztown in an early hole. But KU was able to dig itself out, slowly but surely.
 
After getting on the scoreboard in the bottom-half of the second on a Knappenberger RBI double, KU tied the score in the fourth via a Millersville wild pitch that brought home Auvil.
 
Tied 2-2 in the fifth, Kutztown needed to add runs, and in a hurry. The fifth and sixth innings proved vital for the KU offense as it scored six runs, three in each inning, to put a strangle hold on the game.
 
In the fifth, Auvil and Nordyk both doubled home runs, one down each of the foul lines, as Auvil's went for two and Nordyk's one. In the Maroon and Gold's next at-bats, they were helped out a little by their speed and attacking presence on the base paths. Ostaszewski laid down a sacrifice bunt, and when Keeny left for third, a Marauders throw got by the short stop and Keeny was able to beat the ensuing throw home. Then with Jennings on third, another wild pitch allowed the senior to cross home plate. Auvil then added her third RBI of the game on a sacrifice fly to left field to cap the KU scoring and give it an 8-2 edge.
 
Brugger finished it off.
 
Kutztown 4, Millersville 0
 
Bailey had it going on from start to finish. It was just a matter of the run support.
 
And Kutztown did a good job of adding it early.
 
A run in the first off an RBI single by Lipowski, then another run in the second on a Keeny run-scoring double, gave the Golden Bears and Bailey a 2-0 advantage after two.
 
The freshman pitcher did not allow a hit until there were two outs in the sixth inning, and wound up giving up just two total.
 
In the bottom of the fourth, Paola Texidor (Reading, Pa./Exeter Township) raced home on a wild pitch, and then Fortney came around on a base hit up the middle by Ostaszewski for the 4-0 lead.
 
Bailey cruised along as Millersville could only get a runner past first base once, a two-out double in the seventh inning. But Bailey closed out the game on the next pitch.