KUTZTOWN, Pa. -- Bridget Bailey (Norwood, Pa./Interboro) turned in a gem with a three-hit shutout of Lock Haven in game one and the Kutztown University softball team put together a four-run sixth inning in game two to complete a PSAC East sweep, 3-0 and 5-1, Friday afternoon at North Campus Field.

Bailey was on point in the opener, facing just four batters over the minimum and striking out nine. The junior didn't allow a runner past second base the entire game. The Golden Bears went ahead on Gillian Walsh's (Easton, Pa./Easton) pinch-hit single in the sixth inning of game two, later adding insurance from Kate Ostaszewski (Philadelphia, Pa./Archbishop Ryan) (sacrifice fly) and Hannah Auvil (Baltimore, Md./Sparrows Point) (two-run double) for the final margin of victory.

Kutztown's two-win day edged 34th-year head coach Judy Lawes ever closer to 1,000 in her career. The 2012 NFCA Coach of the Year and seven-time conference coach of the year is three wins shy of the milestone with an all-time record of 997-567-2.

GAME 1
Kutztown 3, Lock Haven 0

Lock Haven had no answers for Bailey the Bears, resulting in Kutztown's first shutout of the young season.

Jenna Lipowski (Nanticoke, Pa./Greater Nanticoke Area) broke a scoreless deadlock in the third inning when she cranked a 1-1 pitch from the Bald Eagles' Jada Schellhammer over the left field fence for a 2-0 lead. It was the senior's second round-tripper of the season and 16th of her career, putting her four away from joining the program's career top 10.

Kutztown added another run in the fifth on an Alyssa Donato (Cedarville, N.J./Cumberland Regional) single that scored Ostaszewski, but Bailey didn't even need it. She got stronger as the game wore on, retiring Lock Haven in order in the fourth, fifth and seventh innings.

Bailey's nine strikeouts are tied for the second-most in a game in her career. The Norwood, Pa., native notched a 13-strikeout game and had four games with nine strikeouts during the 2019 season when she was named PSAC East Freshman of the Year. Bailey allowed three walks and threw 120 pitches in her seventh career shutout.

Offensively, catcher Hannah Auvil (Baltimore, Md./Sparrows Point) continued to rake. She was 3-for-3 with a double and a run scored out of the two hole, raising her batting average to .654 (17-for-26) prior to game two. Lipowski was the only other Bear with a multi-hit game, going 2-for-3.

GAME 2
Kutztown 5, Lock Haven 1

The sweep didn't come easy for KU, but a late surge in game two gave the hosts a much desired result in their first home appearance since the 2019 season.

Lock Haven jumped on top 1-0 in the top of the first following Mikayla Ruppert's RBI single and that was the totality of the scoring until the bottom of the fifth.

Sarah Harvey (Swanton, Vt./Missisquoi Valley Union) was equally impressive for the Maroon and Gold (5-3, 4-2 PSAC East) in the circle. She kept the Bald Eagles off balance in a complete game win, yielding two hits, two walks and one unearned run while striking out five.

A miscue by LHU (0-4, 0-4 PSAC East) on a routine pop up in the bottom of the fifth permitted Zoe Texidor (Reading, Pa./Exeter Township) to score the tying run and Kutztown broke out in the sixth with four runs. Walsh singled home Hannah Reimel (Warminster, Pa./William Tennent) with the go-ahead run, Ostaszewski plated Harvey with a sac fly and Auvil put the finishing touches on the victory by ripping a two-run double to the gap in left for a 5-1 advantage.

Harvey quickly worked through the Eagles with a 1-2-3 seventh to wrap up the win.

ON DECK
Saturday's doubleheader at Lock Haven was postponed due to unplayable field conditions. Those games will be made up on Wednesday, March 17. Kutztown will now turn its focus to Tuesday's home non-conference doubleheader against Bloomfield. Game one is set for 2 p.m.