SHIPPENSBURG, Pa. – Kutztown softball stopped a five-game skid with a game two victory over host Shippensburg Saturday afternoon on the road to salvage a split of the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference East Division doubleheader at Robb Field.
 
The Golden Bears (14-16 overall, 8-6 PSAC East) scored three runs in their first at-bats of the opener, but the Raiders (16-11, 10-6) answered with three of their own in the bottom-half of that frame and had nine unanswered runs cross home plate in an 11-5 win. KU fell behind early in game two, but used a five-run, second inning and the arm of starting pitcher Haley Gravish (Hamburg, Pa./Hamburg) to take the nightcap 6-3 and head into the holiday with some positive momentum before a very important and busy week of PSAC games next week. The Maroon and Gold played in two road doubleheaders this weekend to begin a stretch of six straight two-game sets away from North Campus Field.
 
Naya Darnowski (Manchester, N.J./Manchester Township) finished with four hits, two RBIs and scored two runs on the day. Brianna Stocklin (Deptford, N.J./Deptford Township) recorded three hits and Sarah Harvat (Bangor, Pa./Bangor), Gravish, Kristin Geesey (Bainbridge, Pa./Elizabethtown), Alexa Stevens (Covington Township, Pa./North Pocono) and Kate Ostaszewski (Philadelphia, Pa./Archbishop Ryan) all had two hits.
 
Gravish threw a complete-game and struck out seven batters to earn her eighth win of the season. She also hit two home runs, the first of her career.
 
Kutztown has its first rematch with an East Divisional foe as it heads to East Stroudsburg for two games next Tuesday, April 11, beginning at 2 p.m. It's the first of three road doubleheaders KU plays in next week as it goes to Bloomsburg the next day and concludes the week at Lock Haven on Saturday, April 15.
 
Shippensburg 11, Kutztown 5
 
Kutztown had nine different student-athletes record a hit, all nine that were in the starting lineup. All nine came to bat in the top of the first as KU had three runs touch home to take a 3-0 lead. Ostaszewski, Brianna Hughes (Hatboro, Pa./Upper Moreland) and Harvat had run-scoring singles to account for the scoring.
 
Morgan Lindsay, however, put her team right back into the game with a three-run home run to left field to tie the score. She was one-of-two Raiders with three hits and one-of-five that had a multi-hit game as Shippensburg outhit KU 16-9.
 
The Raiders added another run in the second inning and then took control of the game with a five-run, fourth to go up 9-3.
 
Gravish, primarily known for her pitching this season, got the start at third base and showed head coach Judy Lawes her worth, especially at the plate. The sophomore connected on her first home run of the season, a solo shot to straight away, center field in the fifth. Lexi Wescott (Phoenixville, Pa./Spring-Ford) had an RBI single in the seventh to round out the scoring for the Maroon and Gold.
 
Kutztown 6, Shippensburg 3
 
Kutztown needed something positive to happen after being swept in its last two series and was one defeat shy of its sixth straight setback Saturday.
 
It looked grim to start as Shippensburg scored twice in the bottom of the first, but KU answered in a big way, immediately, with five runs in the top of the second inning. Just like in game one, the Golden Bears brought all nine batters to the plate as the first five reached safely via hits, including singles by Harvat, Geesey, Stevens and Stocklin, along with a double by Darnowski. Geesey, Darnowski and Hughes all recorded RBIs in the frame.
 
Hannah Marsteller, who leads the PSAC in home runs and slugging percentage, hit a solo drive in the bottom of the third, but that was all Gravish would allow from there. She would also connect on a solo shot in the fifth for KU's sixth run.

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