KUTZTOWN, Pa. – Jenna Lipowski (Nanticoke, Pa./Greater Nanticoke Area) joined elite company Friday afternoon, recording her 200th career hit, and starting pitchers Bridget Bailey (Norwood, Pa./Interboro) and Amber Brugger (Levittown, Pa./Neshaminy) combined to give up just one run in defeating Mansfield in two Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference East Division games at North Campus Field.
 
The Golden Bears (26-10 overall, 5-1 PSAC) had their offense come on late and won the opener over the Mounties (5-15, 1-7) 8-0 in five innings before coming through clutch in the sixth inning to take game two 3-1. KU has now won six games in-a-row and nine out of its last 10 overall.
 
Lipowski led a quartet of Golden Bears who tallied three hits on the day. The graduate student went 3-for-3 in game one and had two RBIs. Kate Ostaszewski (Philadelphia, Pa./Archbishop Ryan), Sarah Harvey (Swanton, Vt./Missisquoi Valley Union) and Hannah Reimel (Warminster, Pa./William Tennent) also had three hits at the plate. Ostaszewski scored four runs, Harvey had two RBIs, one in each game, including the go-ahead in the sixth inning of game two, and Reimel scored twice and had an RBI.
 
Bailey needed just five innings for her PSAC-leading 14th victory of the season, allowing two hits and striking out five. Brugger struck out a career-high 10 batters and did not allow an earned run, giving up just one hit in a complete game for her eighth win.
 
Brianna Hughes (Hatboro, Pa./Upper Moreland) contributed two hits, scored two runs and had two RBIs.
 
Kutztown will host Bloomsburg in another PSAC East doubleheader tomorrow, Saturday, April 16, with first pitch set for 11 a.m.
 
Kutztown 8, Mansfield 0 (5 inn.)
 
It took a while for the Kutztown bats to get going, but once they did, they were able to put Mansfield away. KU scored one run in the first inning, one in the second and two in the third and were ahead 4-0 in the fifth, then brought four across home plate to end the game early.
 
Lipowski and Brianna Stocklin (Deptford, N.J./Deptford Township) connected in back-to-back innings with run-scoring singles to put the Maroon and Gold on top 2-0 after two. In the third, Hughes singled in Ostaszewski and then Reimel had an RBI groundout that scored pinch-runner Aysha Gibbs (Mount Joy, Pa./Donegal) for a 4-0 lead.
 
In the fifth, Kutztown brought seven straight batters to the plate without recording an out. Ostaszewski led off with a single to center and came around to score the next batter on a double by Lipowski. After a Mansfield pitching change, Hughes singled in Lipowski and, three batters later, Kristin Geesey (Bainbridge, Pa./Elizabethtown) walked with the bases loaded. Harvey had the game-clinching hit that brought home pinch-runner Sarah Harvat (Bangor, Pa./Bangor) for the eighth run.
 
Kutztown 3, Mansfield 1
 
Game two was a little sloppier as the two teams combined for five errors and only four hits.
 
Mansfield got on the scoreboard first with its first run of the day in the top of the first inning. Two KU throwing errors, a walk and a hit by pitch were the causes of the lone run.
 
Kutztown answered in the bottom-half of the inning as Reimel and Ostaszewski performed a double steal with the former reaching home to tie the game.
 
Four straight scoreless innings from Brugger and Mounties starter Alexis Easling pushed the game to 1-1 in the sixth. After Brugger recorded three outs in the top-half, KU finally broke through off Easling. Ostaszewski reached second after an error by the Mounties left fielder and later made it to third after a fly out by Lipowski with one out. Following a Hughes walk and steal, Harvey singled to left field, bringing home Hughes for the go-ahead run. Hannah Auvil (Baltimore, Md./Sparrows Point) helped add an all-important sacrifice fly for KU's third run.
 
Brugger got three consecutive outs in the seventh, two via the strikeout.

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