QUAKERTOWN, Pa. – Kutztown softball entered the top of the seventh inning trailing by five runs. KU put together a two-out rally that brought the game-tying batter to the plate, but Bloomsburg was able to get the final out, securing a 5-3 victory in PSAC Championship Game 10 Thursday morning at Veterans Park in Quakertown.
 
It was the first defeat for Kutztown at the PSAC Championships in Quakertown since losing in the loser's bracket final on May 3, 2019. KU won all four of its games in winning the PSAC title last season.
 
The Golden Bears (29-23 overall) were shutout and had just five hits through the first six innings, but a one-out single by pinch-hitter Amanda Slabicki (Langhorne, Pa./Neshaminy), and then a dropped fly ball by the Huskies (24-31) right fielder gave the Maroon and Gold some life, bringing home Slabicki for the game's first run. With Naya Darnowski (Manchester, N.J./Manchester Township) on first base, Kate Ostaszewski (Philadelphia, Pa./Archbishop Ryan) drove a 3-2 pitch over the left field fence to cut the deficit to just 5-3. Sarah Harvey (Swanton, Vt./Missisquoi Valley Union) singled to center the next batter, bringing up the potential game-tying run with two outs.
 
Bloomsburg starter, Callie Sowers, who threw all seven innings and did not allow an earned run, while striking out nine, finished off the game, inducing a groundout to second base by Kristin Geesey (Bainbridge, Pa./Elizabethtown). The Huskies are 3-0 this week and will play Shippensburg in a winner's bracket final with a chance to advance to the championship game, Thursday at 10 a.m.
 
Kutztown will meet the winner of PSAC Championship Game 11 between East Stroudsburg and California, at 3 p.m.
 
The Huskies jumped on Kutztown pitching from the get-go, scoring three runs in the bottom of the first. They tacked on two more insurance runs, which proved to be important, in the fourth.
 
Brianna Stocklin (Deptford, N.J./Deptford Township), Hannah Reimel (Warminster, Pa./William Tennent) and Ostaszewski all finished with two hits for the KU lineup.

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