MIAMI SHORES, Fla. – Kutztown University softball did not want to get swept by Barry University in three games played this week. KU scored three runs in the top of the eighth inning to win the second game of a doubleheader, 6-3, to secure a split Thursday night on the campus of Barry University. Game one was 5-1 in favor of the Bucs.
 
The Golden Bears (11-5 overall) had lost two in-a-row to Barry on their spring break trip this week, including a 6-4 setback last Sunday, March 13. But they made sure to leave Miami Shores with at least one victory Thursday.
 
Freshman Brianna Stocklin (Deptford, N.J./Deptford Township) singled home classmate Kristin Geesey (Bainbridge, Pa./Elizabethtown) for the go-ahead run in the eighth and Kate Ostaszewski (Philadelphia, Pa./Archbishop Ryan) hit her second home run of the season, a two-run shot for some insurance runs as Kutztown went ahead 6-3 and got three outs in the bottom-half of the eighth to earn the win.
 
The Kutztown offense recorded 10 hits total on the day, five in each game. Stocklin finished with two hits to lead the Maroon and Gold, one in each game. Freshman Sarah Harvat (Bangor, Pa./Bangor) had a go-ahead, two-run home run in the top of the fifth that gave KU a 3-2 advantage. It was her first collegiate long ball.
 
Bridget Bailey (Norwood, Pa./Interboro) earned the victory inside the circle, throwing all eight innings, allowing just two earned runs on six hits. She struck out two for her seventh win on the year.
 
Kutztown will play its final two games in Florida tomorrow, Friday, March 18, as its set to play a doubleheader at Lynn University in Boca Raton, Fla., beginning at 10:30 a.m.
 
Barry 5, Kutztown 1
 
The Kutztown bats were stifled by the Barry starting pitching duo of Cassandra Lee and Maci Barnhart, recording just five hits and scoring just one run. Although the teams were even in the hit column at five a piece, the Bucs were able to take advantage of theirs by tallying five runs. KU had more than half (3) of its hits in the first and second innings combined, but was unable to have a runner cross home plate.
 
The final five innings, the Maroon and Gold had just two hits and was helped out by back-to-back errors and a wild pitch to lead off the top of the fourth inning. Geesey then had an RBI groundout to score Sarah Harvey (Swanton, Vt./Missisquoi Valley Union) for the lone run.
 
Harvey and Amber Brugger (Levittown, Pa./Neshaminy) combined to throw six innings of work inside the circle. Harvey threw 3.2 innings, allowing five hits and five runs while striking out three. Brugger struck out two and did not allow a hit in 2.1 innings of action.
 
Kutztown 6, Barry 3 (8 innings)
 
With two outs in the top of the eighth and a runner on second, Kutztown was in need of a big hit, one which didn't come in the opener. Stocklin delivered, singling through the middle to break a 3-3 deadlock. Ostaszewski then joined in on the fun and sent a drive over the center field wall to push KU's advantage to 6-3.
 
Harvat sparked the Golden Bears with a two-run home run of her own in the fifth to take a 2-1 deficit into a 3-2 lead for her team.
 
Geesey had an RBI single in the second that tied the score 1-1.

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