BOCA RATON, Fla. – Kutztown softball kicked off its Florida trip with two wins, both being earned in the late innings, as KU left Lynn University undefeated Monday afternoon, winning 5-1 in eight innings and followed that with a 4-1 victory.
 
The Golden Bears improved their record to 5-6 overall on the season. They took a 1-1 tie and scored four runs in the eighth to take the opener and then came back from down 1-0 in the sixth with two runs in each of the last two frames.
 
Haley Gravish (Hamburg, Pa./Hamburg) threw game one and Natalee Harvey (Swanton, Vt./Missisquoi Valley Union) was the starter for game two and each earned complete-game victories. Kate Ostaszewski (Philadelphia, Pa./Archbishop Ryan) and Hannah Reimel (Warminster, Pa./William Tennent) both finished with four hits and an RBI at the plate.
 
Kutztown will next head to Barry University in Miami Shores, Fla., to play in a doubleheader tomorrow, Tuesday, March 14, beginning at 5 p.m.
 
Kutztown 5, Lynn 1 (8 inn.)
 
A four-run, top of the eighth inning lifted Kutztown to the early victory after Lynn tied the game at 1-1 in the bottom of the sixth. The first three batters reached base safely in the eighth for KU and four of the first five.
 
Brianna Stocklin (Deptford, N.J./Deptford Township), which began the inning on second base due to the rule of extra innings, came around to score when she began in motion towards third on the pitch and continued on after a throwing error by the Fighting Knights catcher. That proved to be the only run the Golden Bears needed, but they decided to tack on three more for insurance purposes.
 
Sarah Harvey (Swanton, Vt./Missisquoi Valley Union) singled in Naya Darnowski (Manchester, N.J./Manchester Township) and later scored on a Sarah Harvat (Bangor, Pa./Bangor) RBI single. Mixed in-between those two runs, Kristin Geesey (Bainbridge, Pa./Elizabethtown) recorded an RBI, sacrifice fly that brought around Ostaszewski.
 
Gravish, who nearly threw a shutout, gave up just the lone run in the seventh inning and struck out seven batters for the complete-game victory, her third on the year.
 
Reimel had, what looked to be the game-winning hit, an RBI double to left-center field in the top of the second inning, scoring Alexa Stevens (Covington Township, Pa./North Pocono), but Lynn got the tying run in the sixth via a single with runners on second and third. Stocklin came up with a potentially game-saving throw from center field to throw out the go-ahead runner from second.
 
Reimel, Harvat, Harvey and Ostaszewski each had two hits.
 
Kutztown 4, Lynn 1
 
Just like in the opener, Kutztown came through in the clutch when it needed to most to secure the win. Trailing 1-0 with just six outs left to play with, the Golden Bears scored two runs in both the top of the sixth and seventh innings, respectively.
 
Stocklin led off the sixth with a single and then came around to score two batters later on a double by Ostaszewski to tie the game. Sarah Harvey (Swanton, Vt./Missisquoi Valley Union) tallied the game-sealing, RBI single in the next at-bat to give her team a 2-1 lead. Geesey's pinch-hit, two-run double in the top of the seventh was the cherry on top of a perfect Monday in Boca Raton, Fla.
 
Natalee Harvey (Swanton, Vt./Missisquoi Valley Union) recorded her first victory inside the circle, threw all seven innings and gave up just one earned run, while striking out five.

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