MOUNT OLIVE, N.C. – The Kutztown softball home run leaders were at it once again Thursday evening as Morgan Slomkowski (Toms River, N.J./Toms River East), Alexa Stevens (Covington Township, Pa./North Pocono) and Emily Henn (Matamoras, Pa./Delaware Valley) all had long balls to lead KU to a 7-6 win over Mount Olive on the road.
 
The Golden Bears (9-2 overall) are off to their best start to a regular season through 11 games since the 2013 season when they also began that year 9-2.
 
Henn and Stevens both had two-run home runs in the top of the fourth and sixth innings, respectively, while Slomkowski recorded a solo drive in the fifth. The trio have led the Maroon and Gold in long balls this season, combining for 10 of the 11 home runs, with Slomkowski leading the way with four and both Henn and Stevens adding three each. The three also rank inside the top-10 in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference in RBIs with Slomkowski second with 19 and both Henn and Stevens with 11.
 
It was a game for hard-hit softballs as the Trojans connected for two HRs.
 
Each team got off to a fast start offensively, scoring two runs in each half of the first inning. Brianna Stocklin (Deptford, N.J./Deptford Township) led off the game with a walk and then came around to score four batters later on an RBI by Kristin Geesey (Bainbridge, Pa./Elizabethtown). The junior shortstop was then part of a double steal that brought home Stevens for a 2-0 lead. Mount Olive tied the game with a two-out, two-run home run in the bottom-half.
 
After two scoreless innings, KU took back the lead as Henn drove in Stocklin with a two-out, two-run HR of her own. Slomkowski then led off the top of the fifth inning with a solo drive to give her team a 5-2 advantage.
 
The Trojans got one back in bottom of the fifth on a solo home run, but Stevens doubled up the lead, coming through clutch in her own right with a two-out, two-run deep ball and a 7-3 lead.
 
Haley Gravish (Hamburg, Pa./Hamburg), who came on in relief of Natalee Harvey (Swanton, Vt./Missisquoi Valley Union) in the bottom of the fifth, recorded the save, and she earned it as the game-winning run came to the plate in the bottom of the seventh, but Gravish induced a groundout to end the game. Harvey picked up the win, starting inside the circle and going 4.1 innings.
 
Stocklin finished with two hits and scored three runs to lead the lineup.
 
Kutztown will now make the trek further south to Florida for its spring break trip. KU will play eight games in four straight days beginning with a double header at Palm Beach Atlantic on Monday, March 11, with game one scheduled for 5 p.m.

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