BLOOMSBURG, Pa. – Kutztown softball scored eight runs in the first three innings of game No. 2 and ended that game with a 9-1 win in six innings to bounce back well from a 6-1 game one loss as the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference East Division doubleheader between KU and Bloomsburg was split Sunday afternoon at Jan Hutchinson Field.
 
The Golden Bears (27-18 overall, 15-11 PSAC) are neck-and-neck with the Huskies (28-17, 15-11), along with West Chester (27-18, 15-11) in the PSAC East standings, as the three teams are all tied for third with five teams from the division making the postseason conference tournament.
 
Emily Henn (Matamoras, Pa./Delaware Valley) finished with four hits, two RBIs and scored two runs. The freshman ranks inside the top 10 in the conference in RBIs with 34 so far this season. Hannah Reimel (Warminster, Pa./William Tennent) and Alexa Stevens (Covington Township, Pa./North Pocono) both combined for three hits and an RBI on the day and Brianna Hughes (Hatboro, Pa./Upper Moreland) and Naya Darnowski (Manchester, N.J./Manchester Township) each had two hits, with the former contributing an RBI and the latter scoring two runs.
 
Sarah Harvat (Bangor, Pa./Bangor) hit her second homerun in as many days and Morgan Slomkowski (Toms River, N.J./Toms River East) also connected on a long ball, her sixth of the season. Both big hits came in game two.
 
Haley Gravish (Hamburg, Pa./Hamburg) earned the victory inside the circle in the nightcap, throwing all six innings, allowing just three hits and the one run, striking out five. She recorded her 15th win of the season, which is tied for seventh-best in the conference.
 
Kutztown returns home for its final regular season home games when it hosts Millersville for a doubleheader on Tuesday, April 23, with game one starting at 1 p.m.
 
Bloomsburg 6, Kutztown 1
 
Kutztown scored first in this one as its lone run came in the top of the third inning after a scoreless first two for both teams. Slomkowski led off the frame by being hit by a pitch, the conference-leading 16th time that has happened this season. The sophomore then came around to score the next batter as Reimel ripped a double to center field for the 1-0 lead.
 
That would be the last time a KU runner crossed home, however, the rest of the game.
 
Bloomsburg responded in the bottom-half of the third with two runs, both coming on one swing of the bat, a two-run single by Kayleigh Lenner. The Huskies then padded their advantage with a four-run, fourth inning to take control of the game.
 
Bloomsburg starting pitcher, Callie Sowers, struck out 14 KU batters and gave up just five hits and the one run. She is tied for first in the PSAC with 19 wins and ranks second in ERA at 1.09.
 
Kutztown 9, Bloomsburg 1 (6 inn.)
 
Just as it did in the opener, KU jumped on top early. This time, however, it was more of an advantage and they were able to hold on in the end.
 
The Maroon and Gold scored four runs in the top of the first inning, and then two in both the second and third innings to go up 8-0.
 
The KU lineup accounted for 12 hits in the game. Henn went 3-for-4 with two runs and two RBIs. She had a two-run single in the first and another RBI single in the second. Hughes tripled in the first, scoring Kristin Geesey (Bainbridge, Pa./Elizabethtown). It was the senior's first three-bagger since her freshman season in 2021. Stevens singled through the left side of the infield for a run in the second and then Slomkowski hit a two-run HR in the third.
 
Harvat's solo drive in the sixth inning capped the KU scoring and allowed the mercy rule to come into effect.
 
Bloomsburg's lone run came in the bottom of the third on an RBI single. Outside of that, Gravish kept the Huskies bats quiet all game.

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