KUTZTOWN, Pa. –
Brianna Stocklin (Deptford, N.J./Deptford Township) had two, two-run triples and Kutztown softball outscored Bloomsburg 16-1 for two wins Friday afternoon in Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference East Division action, to complete a four-game, season series sweep.
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The Golden Bears (22-18 overall, 16-8 PSAC) have now won five games in-a-row and eight out of their last nine overall with 10 games remaining, eight in the PSAC.
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KU held a 19-8 advantage in hits and was led by
Sarah Harvat (Bangor, Pa./Bangor) with four total on the day, two in each game. The sophomore catcher also scored three runs. Stocklin had three hits and five RBIs and
Brianna Hughes (Hatboro, Pa./Upper Moreland),
Haley Gravish (Hamburg, Pa./Hamburg),
Sarah Harvey (Swanton, Vt./Missisquoi Valley Union),
Kristin Geesey (Bainbridge, Pa./Elizabethtown) and
Naya Darnowski (Manchester, N.J./Manchester Township) all recorded two hits. Hughes also hit her 25th career home run, a two-run long ball in the first inning of game one, she now sits alone for seventh all-time in program history for career HRs.
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Gravish and Harvey threw in games one and two, respectively, each earning wins. Gravish only had to go five inning to win her 14th of the season, fourth-most in the PSAC. Her ERA is now under 2.00 as well, sitting at 1.94 with the shutout win, sixth-best in the conference. Harvey evened her season record at 4-4 by throwing a complete-game, three-hitter and allowed just the one run, which was unearned.
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Kutztown has a quick turnaround as it hosts Mansfield in PSAC East action for a doubleheader tomorrow, Saturday, April 22, beginning at noon.
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Kutztown 8, Bloomsburg 0 (5 inn.)
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Kutztown made quick work of Bloomsburg in game one, scoring in all but one inning, the bottom of the third. KU had two three-run innings in the first and fifth, where it walked off victors on a Stocklin two-run triple.
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Gravish also shut down the Huskies, allowing just five hits in a shutout win. Bloomsburg loaded the bases in the top of the second with two outs, but Gravish induced an inning-ending groundout. Outside of that threat, Gravish kept the Huskies off the base paths for the most part as a runner reached second in both the first and fourth innings, but nothing more.
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Stocklin walked to lead off the bottom of the first and then stole second. She came around for the game's first run following an RBI single by
Kate Ostaszewski (Philadelphia, Pa./Archbishop Ryan). Hughes capped the inning with a two-run home run over the left center field wall and a 3-0 advantage after one.
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Harvat led off the second with a single to center and then reached second and third via wild pitches. She crossed home after a sacrifice fly by Darnowski to make the score 4-0. Following a scoreless third,
Alexa Stevens (Covington Township, Pa./North Pocono) led off the fourth with a double and then scored on a double steal as Darnowski stole second and Stevens came around on the throw down for a 5-0 lead.
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KU enacted the mercy rule in the bottom of the fifth after Stocklin cleared the bases with a two-run triple down the left field line, her second of the season. Hughes started the frame with a single and then scored on a Gravish double. Pinch-runner
Aysha Gibbs (Mount Joy, Pa./Donegal) and Harvat, who doubled, scored on Stocklin's game-ending triple.
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Kutztown 8, Bloomsburg 1
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It looked as if game two would be yet another mercy rule as Kutztown got off to a blazing start, leading 6-0 after the first inning. KU batted around, bringing 12 batters to the plate in the six-run first. The first four batters reached base safely as the first run touched home following a hit by pitch to Harvey. With one out, Geesey had an RBI single and Gravish was hit by a pitch to bring home two more runs. A Bloomsburg error in the field allowed two more runs to score and then a walk to Stocklin rounded out the scoring in the first.
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Harvey got the start inside the circle and, just like Gravish did in the opener, kept the Huskies offense at bay, allowing just three hits and an unearned run, which came in the top of the fifth. KU answered in the bottom-half of the inning with two more runs coming on another triple out of Stocklin, her second two-run, triple-bagger on the day. With the sophomore left fielder being the game-clinching run at third with one out, the Golden Bears were unable to complete two five-inning victories as the Huskies kept her stranded at third.
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Harvey then shut down Bloomsburg in order with six straight outs to end the game.
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