MELBOURNE, Fla. – Kutztown University softball's lineup found another gear in the late innings of its two-game set Tuesday, defeating Molloy College 10-1 in the first game and then beat the host team, Florida Tech, 6-1, at the Nancy Bottge Field on the campus of Florida Tech.
 
The Golden Bears (9-4 overall) scored eight runs in the sixth and seventh innings combined against the Lions to take a 2-1 lead and turn it into a 10-1 win. In the nightcap, KU turned a 1-1 tie into a 6-1 triumph by plating five runs in its final at-bats in the seventh inning.
 
Kutztown has won four games in-a-row and six of its last seven overall.
 
Inside the circle, Sarah Harvey (Swanton, Vt./Missisquoi Valley Union) won game one and Bridget Bailey (Norwood, Pa./Interboro) earned the victory in game two. Harvey is 2-0 on the season while Bailey improved to 6-2. Both right-handers went the distance in their respective starts.
 
Brianna Hughes (Hatboro, Pa./Upper Moreland) hit .500 on the day, going 3-for-6 at the plate, including two home runs, and added five RBIs. Jenna Lipowski (Nanticoke, Pa./Greater Nanticoke Area) had five hits in eight at-bats with two runs scored and five RBIs. Hannah Auvil (Baltimore, Md./Sparrows Point), Kate Ostaszewski (Philadelphia, Pa./Archbishop Ryan) and Hannah Reimel (Warminster, Pa./William Tennent) all had three hits for Kutztown, which combined for 22 hits in the two games.
 
Kutztown faces Nova Southeastern for a doubleheader tomorrow, Wednesday, March 16, beginning at 5 p.m., from Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
 
Kutztown 10, Molloy 1
 
Kutztown took control in the last two innings, scoring four runs in each of the sixth and seventh. KU used its 2-through-4 batters in the lineup, which combined for six of the nine total hits. Auvil, Lipowski and Hughes all recorded two hits, including long balls out of Lipowski and Hughes in back-to-back innings that broke open the game.
 
KU led 2-0 after the top-half of the first, as Ostaszewski and Stocklin scored on an error by the Molloy second baseman. The Lions cut their deficit in half thanks to a solo home run in the bottom of the third. But the Golden Bear bats woke up in a big way three innings later.
 
With one out in the top of the sixth, Auvil singled up the middle. The next batter, Lipowski laced her third homer of the season. Reimel then doubled in-between walks to Hughes and Alyssa Donato (Cedarville, N.J./Cumberland Regional). Harvey then hit a sacrifice fly to center field to bring home Hughes. Two consecutive walks in the next two at-bats to Kristin Geesey (Bainbridge, Pa./Elizabethtown) and Stocklin pushed KU's advantage to 6-1.
 
Once again in the seventh, Auvil and Lipowski got on base to get things going offensively for the Maroon and Gold. The duo hit back-to-back singles to begin the frame and then Hughes brought everybody home with a home run. Geesey followed with an RBI groundout five batters later and KU led 10-1.
 
Harvey allowed just the one earned run and struck out four, including all three outs in the seventh. She won for the second time this season and is 2-0 overall with five appearances.
 
Kutztown 6, Florida Atlantic 1
 
It was a pitcher's duel over the first six innings as Bridget Bailey (Norwood, Pa./Interboro) and Samantha Guider both allowed just one run each and were never really in trouble with runners on the base paths.
 
That all changed in the top of the seventh, notably for Guider facing the Kutztown bats. KU recorded five of its 13 hits in the game during a five-run seventh, highlighted and capped by a two-run home run by Hughes, her second on the day, fifth of the season and fourth in the last three days. Ostaszewski had an RBI double to right center field that got the rally going and Lipowski added a two-run single before coming home on Hughes' blast.
 
Bailey gave up just four hits and one run in seven innings.
 
Lipowski finished with three RBIs, her first gave KU a 1-0 lead in the top of the third. The Panthers tied the game in the bottom-half of the inning.

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