SHIPPENSBURG, Pa. – The 23rd-ranked Kutztown University softball team made quick work of host Shippensburg University in game one, winning 11-2 in five innings, but the Raiders would not suffer a sweep on their home field, regrouping to put up double figure runs of their own, taking game two 10-8 Thursday afternoon in Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference East Division softball action.
 
The Golden Bears (19-5 overall, 16-4 PSAC) broke open game one with a nine-run top of the fifth inning that made a 2-1 lead quickly turn into an 11-1 advantage. KU crushed three homeruns, one each from senior Hannah Auvil (Baltimore, Md./Sparrows Point) and freshmen Brianna Hughes (Hatboro, Pa./Upper Moreland) and Hannah Reimel (Warminster, Pa./William Tennent). Bridget Bailey (Norwood, Pa./Interboro) started inside the circle and recorded the win, her 10th on the season to remain unbeaten at 10-0.
 
Jenna Lipowski (Nanticoke, Pa./Greater Nanticoke Area) had a four-hit day, including going 3-for-4 at the plate with four RBIs in game two. Auvil, Hughes and Kate Ostaszewski (Philadelphia, Pa./Archbishop Ryan) all finished with three hits. Hughes had five RBIs and both Ostaszewski and Reimel added two apiece.
 
Kutztown hosts Shippensburg for two games tomorrow, Friday, April 9, at North Campus Field. First pitch of game one is scheduled for 1 p.m. KU remains on top of the East Division, one game ahead of Shepherd (14-4).
 
Kutztown 11, Shippensburg 2 (F/5)
 
Kutztown wanted some breathing room and it received it in a high-scoring fifth inning. KU had 12 batters come to the plate in the frame, nine of which reached safely. There were four hits, two of them for extra bases. The highlight came on Hughes' three-run homerun to left field on a 2-2 pitch, it was her fifth long ball of the season, first since her two-homerun game against Nyack back on March 23.
 
The Maroon and Gold scored nine runs in the top of the fifth inning to take a comfortable 11-1 lead.
 
Bailey gave up a run in the bottom-half of the inning, but worked out of further damage to record the victory on a shorter day, making it back-to-back, five-inning wins for Kutztown, which defeated Mansfield 11-3 in five innings last Saturday, April 3. Bailey allowed just the two earned runs and earned her PSAC-leading 10th win this season.
 
The Kutztown bats hit three homeruns in the game. Auvil and Reimel had solo shots in the first and second innings respectively to give KU leads of 1-0 and 2-1. Reimel also had an RBI double in the fifth. Paola Texidor (Reading, Pa./Exeter Township) and Ostaszewski both had RBIs in the fifth.
 
Shippensburg 10, Kutztown 8
 
The Kutztown offense pounded out 15 hits, outhitting Shippensburg by two hits, but the Raiders got the better of the Golden Bears where it matters most, the scoreboard, scoring two more runs.
 
Lipowski's three hits led the way, followed by two each from Ostaszewski, Hughes, Alyssa Donato (Cedarville, N.J./Cumberland Regional) and Alyssa Oakley (Allentown, Pa./Parkland).
 
The Golden Bears started game two just as they did the opener, scoring first. Lipowski's two-run single in the top of the first inning gave them a 2-0 advantage right out of the gate. But the Raiders answered in a big way, thanks to a grand slam by Hannah Marsteller that left the ball park over the left center field wall.
 
Ostaszewski singled home starting pitcher Sarah Harvey (Swanton, Vt./Missisquoi Valley Union) the following inning to get one back, but Shippensburg scored five runs over the course of the next two innings, including four more in the bottom of the third to go ahead 9-3.
 
Kutztown got right back in it in its following at-bats, having five runs touch home plate, highlighted by RBI singles from Hughes and Lipowski and a sacrifice fly by Reimel to cut its deficit to just one run at 9-8. Shippensburg reliever Hanna Phillips, however, would close the door on KU's comeback attempt and allow just two hits in three scoreless innings to end the game.