KUTZTOWN, Pa. – Kutztown softball sweated out a 3-2 win in game one after going up by three, but then jumped all over Mansfield in game two, winning 14-1 in five innings to complete the doubleheader sweep in Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference East Division action Saturday afternoon at North Campus Field.
 
The Golden Bears (24-18 overall, 18-8 PSAC East) have been on a hot streak of late, winning their last seven games and 10 of their last 11 overall. They have clinched a spot in the PSAC Tournament in two weeks, their fourth straight postseason trip.
 
Kate Ostaszewski (Philadelphia, Pa./Archbishop Ryan), Naya Darnowski (Manchester, N.J./Manchester Township), Brianna Hughes (Hatboro, Pa./Upper Moreland), Kristin Geesey (Bainbridge, Pa./Elizabethtown), Sarah Harvey (Swanton, Vt./Missisquoi Valley Union) and Alexa Stevens (Covington Township, Pa./North Pocono) all finished with two hits. Geesey and Darnowski each had three RBIs, along with Natalee Harvey (Swanton, Vt./Missisquoi Valley Union), who connected for a three-run home run in the fourth inning of game two, in her first career at-bat.
 
Just like the day before, Haley Gravish (Hamburg, Pa./Hamburg) and Sarah Harvey (Swanton, Vt./Missisquoi Valley Union) started games one and two, respectively, and both earned wins.
 
Kutztown heads into the final week of the regular season and begins the busy week of eight games with a doubleheader against West Chester on Tuesday, April 25, beginning at 1 p.m., from North Campus Field.
 
Kutztown 3, Mansfield 2
 
It was a sluggish start for both teams as they traded three consecutive scoreless innings to open the game as both Gravish and Danielle Goff sat down the batters they faced.
 
Kutztown opened the game's scoring in the bottom of the fourth inning with two runs coming off the bat of Geesey as the sophomore ripped a one-out single through the left side to score Sarah Harvey (Swanton, Vt./Missisquoi Valley Union) and Brianna Hughes (Hatboro, Pa./Upper Moreland), who walked and doubled, respectively, in the two bats prior.
 
KU tacked on an insurance run in the fifth, one which proved to be vastly important, as Jenna Martinez (Oracle, Ariz./Canyon del Oro) picked up an RBI on a groundout for a 3-0 lead.
 
Mansfield cut its deficit to just one on a two-out, two-run home run by Anastasia Berardi. Gravish, however, got the final four outs she needed to earn her 15th victory this season.
 
Kutztown 14, Mansfield 1 (5 inn.)
 
Unlike game one where Kutztown was forced to sweat out the final out, KU jumped out in front early and often and was able to put game two out of reach before the fifth inning. The Golden Bears scored two runs in the first, four in the second, five in the third and three more in the fourth and then rode the arm of Sarah Harvey (Swanton, Vt./Missisquoi Valley Union), and in the fifth, Amanda Slabicki (Langhorne, Pa./Neshaminy), to the five-inning victory.
 
The first run scored thanks to a Mansfield error and then Geesey, who had a monster day, recorded an RBI single to give KU a 2-0 lead. In the second, Stevens doubled to left center to get the scoring going and then Darnowski had a two-run single up the middle and later scored on a wild pitch to push the advantage to 6-0. The sophomore picked it right back up in the third with an RBI double. Ostaszewski and Hughes tallied RBI singles, while Aysha Gibbs (Mount Joy, Pa./Donegal) walked and earned an RBI as the KU lead went to 11-0 after three.
 
The Mounties got on the scoreboard in the top of the fourth on a run-scoring double by Cayleen Macik. The Golden Bears answered with a three-run home run by Natalee Harvey (Swanton, Vt./Missisquoi Valley Union), her first career hit in her first career at-bat.
 
Sarah Harvey (Swanton, Vt./Missisquoi Valley Union) went four innings and allowed just two hits and struck out four. Slabicki finished out the game throwing a scoreless fifth.

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