WEST CHESTER, Pa. – Three days after scoring 16 runs and finishing with 20 hits in two games with Millersville, Kutztown softball had just two runs and five hits in a doubleheader at Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference East Division rival West Chester, dropping both games Friday afternoon.
 
The Golden Bears (13-15 overall, 7-5 PSAC) and Golden Rams (23-12, 11-3) were in a pitcher's dual in the opener as WCU won 1-0. The Golden Rams then scored six runs in the bottom of the fifth and ended KU's day early, winning 10-2.
 
Sarah Harvat (Bangor, Pa./Bangor) finished the day with two hits, one in each game. She also scored a run. Brianna Hughes (Hatboro, Pa./Upper Moreland) recorded a hit and an RBI and both Naya Darnowski (Manchester, N.J./Manchester Township) and Haley Gravish (Hamburg, Pa./Hamburg) had a hit each, with the latter starting game one inside the circle and coming on in relief in the second.
 
Kutztown has a quick turnaround as it will head to Shippensburg for two games tomorrow, Saturday, April 8, with game one starting at 1 p.m.
 
West Chester 1, Kutztown 0
 
It was a meeting of two of the top five pitchers in the conference in earned run average entering the day. Gravish ranked fifth in the PSAC with a 1.92 ERA and West Chester's Danielle Ciliberto was second at 1.14. And the matchup did not disappoint as the starters combined to give up just one run and eight hits, both throwing complete games.
 
The Golden Rams' lone run came in the bottom of the fourth inning as Grace Aguilar led off with a double and then advanced to third on a passed ball the next batter. After Gravish got a strikeout, Meg Wolfe ripped a one-out single to left that brought home Aguilar for the lone run, an unearned one since Kutztown got out of the inning with a double-play ball the next batter.
 
Gravish struck out four and threw just 66 pitches in the six innings, allowing just five hits and the one unearned run. Ciliberto threw seven strong innings, striking out 11 batters and giving up three hits in 89 pitches.
 
West Chester 10, Kutztown 2 (5 inn.)
 
Kutztown bounced back from a sluggish game one in its first at-bats. KU loaded the bases as the first three batters reached with Brianna Stocklin (Deptford, N.J./Deptford Township) and Kate Ostaszewski (Philadelphia, Pa./Archbishop Ryan) working walks and Harvat reaching on a throwing error. Two batters later, Hughes walked in Stocklin for the 1-0 lead, but unfortunately for the Maroon and Gold, they could not further the lead as a double play ended the inning the next at-bat.
 
West Chester answered right away and used a two-run home run by Casey Best to go ahead 2-1. Aguilar then doubled her team's lead with a two-out, two-run single in the bottom of the second.
 
KU cut its deficit in half in the top of the fourth as Sophia Collins (Lansdale, Pa./North Penn) earned a one-out walk and then advanced to third on a double by Gravish, the first of her career. Collins then raced home after a passed ball to make the score 4-2.
 
In the bottom of the fifth, however, the Golden Rams had the first five batters reach base, four of which came on hits. Hailey Melvin brought upon the eight-run rule with a one-out double to center field that scored two and ended the game.

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