QUAKERTOWN, Pa. – Two Hannah's is better than one. Sophomore
Hannah Reimel (Warminster, Pa./William Tennent) stepped up in her first plate appearance of the game and ripped a game-tying, two-run home run over the left center field wall. Not to be outdone, graduate student
Hannah Auvil (Baltimore, Md./Sparrows Point) connected on a one-out drive to left field to give Kutztown a 4-3 win over Bloomsburg Thursday afternoon in a Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference tournament winner's bracket game at Veterans Park.
The top seed out of the East Division, the Golden Bears (35-13 overall) advance to the winner's bracket final where they will take on Mercyhurst, the West Division's three seed, at 7:30 p.m. The winner will move onto the championship game.
Reimel, who started all 47 games this season prior to Thursday afternoon, was injured in Wednesday night's win against East Stroudsburg and began the game on the bench. With Kutztown trailing 3-1 in the bottom of the seventh, head coach
Judy Lawes decided to make a move. Leading off the frame,
Alyssa Donato (Cedarville, N.J./Cumberland Regional) pinch hit for
Paola Texidor (Reading, Pa./Exeter Township) and singled. The next at-bat, Reimel stepped in for
Zoe Texidor (Reading, Pa./Exeter Township) and broke loose a dormant offense for most of the game, lacing a 1-0 pitch into the dirt parking lot out past left field.
The Huskies (26-17) recorded an out and then Auvil stepped up to the plate. The Baltimore, Md., native did not have a hit entering the at-bat, but quickly changed that when it mattered most. She connected on her eighth long ball of the year and allowed her team to walk-it-off with a win for the second time in as many games in Quakertown.
Bloomsburg forced the dramatics out of the Maroon and Gold thanks to a two-out, two-run home run in the top of the seventh inning by Alex Iseminger to push her team out in front 3-1. BU tied the game at 1-1 in the fifth thanks once again to Iseminger, who had a run-scoring single.
KU scored the game's opening run in the bottom of the third. With one out,
Brianna Stocklin (Deptford, N.J./Deptford Township) doubled and later came around to score after a Huskies fielding error by their shortstop.
Stocklin led the lineup with two hits. Auvil, Donato, Reimel and
Sarah Harvey (Swanton, Vt./Missisquoi Valley Union) each had a hit.
Bridget Bailey (Norwood, Pa./Interboro) won for the second straight day, earning her PSAC-leading 21st victory. She threw all seven innings, gave up three runs and struck out six.
