FLORENCE, S.C. – The Kutztown University softball team gave some payback in the form of a 10-run, six-inning victory in its opener Friday, downing 24th-ranked West Liberty 11-1 in game one. KU brought the tying run to the plate in the seventh of game two, but could not climb back, dropping the nightcap 5-3 to Lenoir-Rhyne in the Francis Marion Patriot Invitational in Florence, S.C.
 
The Golden Bears lost to West Liberty in the last meeting, 5-2, back on May 20, in the NCAA Atlantic Regional Tournament on North Campus Field. But they were able to amass a little revenge early on in their season. KU brought the tying runner to the plate in the bottom of the seventh, trailing by two, but was unable to keep the comeback going.
 
Kutztown has two more games on Saturday, Feb. 26, and opens up with West Liberty again. First pitch is scheduled for 11 a.m., followed by a game against host Francis Marion at 1 p.m.
 
Kutztown 11, #24 West Liberty 1 (6 innings)
 
The two starting pitchers, Bridget Bailey (Norwood, Pa./Interboro) and Annie Paterson, were dealing early on. They were perfect through the first two innings. The first baserunner for either team did not come until Naya Darnowski (Manchester, N.J./Manchester Township) walked in the top of the third inning. The freshman manufactured the game's first run as well, stealing second, advancing to third base on a fielding error by the second baseman, and then touching home on a wild pitch. With Zoe Texidor (Reading, Pa./Exeter Township) on second base following the wild pitch, back-to-back singles by Brianna Stocklin (Deptford, N.J./Deptford Township) and Kate Ostaszewski (Philadelphia, Pa./Archbishop Ryan) put KU ahead 2-0 and woke up the lineup.
 
Hannah Auvil (Baltimore, Md./Sparrows Point) walked to load the bases with one out and then Jenna Lipowski (Nanticoke, Pa./Greater Nanticoke Area) capped the KU scoring in the frame with a sacrifice fly to center field to make it 3-0 heading into the bottom of the third.
 
Bailey also allowed her first hit of the game in the third inning. She was perfect threw two-and-two-thirds before Kieran Johnson, the nine-hole hitter, singled up the middle. Jairika Baylor, who pinch-ran, was thrown out at second by Auvil trying to steal.
 
In the top of the fourth, the Golden Bears were helped out by erratic pitching out of Paterson and then reliever, Makenzie Amend. Three wild pitches led to two runs and the speed of Darnowski stealing home, added the third run of the inning, all with nobody out, and Kutztown jumped to a 6-0 advantage.
 
The Hilltoppers got on the scoreboard in their ensuing at-bats, scoring a run on back-to-back, one-out doubles. Bailey got out of further damage thanks to a double play on a line drive turned by Lipowski.
 
The Golden Bears capped the scoring for the game in a big way in the sixth, adding five runs, highlighted by their first long balls of the day. Brittany Hubler (Hatboro, Pa./Hatboro-Horsham) had a pinch-hit homerun and Lipowski added a three-run shot to straight away center field. Ostaszewski recorded a run-scoring single sandwiched in-between.
 
Stocklin and Ostaszewski each had two hits and an RBI.
 
Bailey earned her second win on the year, going six innings, striking out eight and allowing just the one earned run.
 
Lenoir-Rhyne 5, Kutztown 3
 
The Bears scored one in the first inning and two in the fourth, while quieting the hot bats of Kutztown in the process to take a 3-0 lead into the fifth.
 
KU chipped away with a run on a throwing error in the fifth and then tied the game at 3 in its next at-bats, thanks to a home run from Brianna Hughes (Hatboro, Pa./Upper Moreland) and an RBI double by Hannah Reimel (Warminster, Pa./William Tennent), the lone Golden Bear with multiple hits in the game.
 
Amber Brugger (Levittown, Pa./Neshaminy) and Haley Gravish (Hamburg, Pa./Hamburg) combined to throw the full seven innings inside the circle.
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