KUTZTOWN, Pa. – The Kutztown and Millersville softball teams are both vying for postseason berths with just a few games left in the regular season this weekend. Both teams played like Tuesday could decide their fates as the two teams went toe-to-toe and back-and-forth all day, ending ultimately in a split of the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference East Division doubleheader at North Campus Field.
 
The Golden Bears (28-19, 16-12 PSAC) won game one 10-8 in a dramatic, come-from-behind victory. But the Marauders (23-22, 14-14) responded and took game two, 5-4, coming from behind in their own way.
 
The two teams were fairly even throughout as both offenses finished with 21 hits total in the two games combined. Brianna Stocklin (Deptford, N.J./Deptford Township) paced KU with four hits and scored a run. Naya Darnowski (Manchester, N.J./Manchester Township) and Brianna Hughes (Hatboro, Pa./Upper Moreland) both had three hits with Hughes connecting on two home runs and also contributing four RBIs and scoring four runs. Alexa Stevens (Covington Township, Pa./North Pocono), Sarah Harvat (Bangor, Pa./Bangor), Emily Henn (Matamoras, Pa./Delaware Valley), Morgan Slomkowski (Toms River, N.J./Toms River East) and Hannah Reimel (Warminster, Pa./William Tennent) all finished with two hits on the day.
 
Natelee Harvey started game one inside the circle, was relieved, and then came back into the game in relief and earned the victory, throwing 5.1 innings and closing the door late on a Marauders rally attempt.
 
Kutztown concludes the regular season portion of its schedule this weekend with back-to-back doubleheaders in back-to-back days on the road. KU first takes on West Chester this Friday, April 26, at 1 p.m., and then is at Shippensburg on Saturday with game one also starting at 1 p.m.
 
Kutztown 10, Millersville 8
 
Kutztown got the better of Millersville in the end of a wild, back-and-forth game.
 
The Marauders went ahead 7-0 after a four-run top of the third inning followed by a three-run fourth. But the Golden Bears responded with two big innings themselves, scoring four in the bottom of the fourth inning and six in the sixth to take the lead and then held on to a late, seventh-inning comeback effort by MU.
 
Hughes had two, two-run home runs, one coming in the fourth and the other in the sixth. Slomkowski got KU on the scoreboard in the bottom of the fourth with a two-run triple the opposite way to right field.
 
Darnowski's RBI single, following Hughes' second HR, in the sixth, tied the game at 7-7. Henn then had an RBI single and Stevens followed with a two-run single to put the Maroon and Gold out in front for the first time and then some, as the 10-7 cushion was needed.
 
The Marauders brought a run home in the top of the seventh, but Harvey, who came back into the game in the fifth, shut the door after the tying run came to the plate.
 
Millersville 5, Kutztown 4
 
Just as it did in the opener, Kutztown made a dramatic, late-game comeback effort. But unlike in game one, KU was unable to secure the victory as Millersville answered a two-run bottom of the sixth inning by the Golden Bears with a two-run top of the seventh that erased a 4-3 deficit and turned it into a 5-4 advantage.
 
Kutztown loaded the bases in the bottom of the seventh, with the winning run at second base, but Marauders relief pitcher, Angelina Saverase, got out of the jam with no damage and a doubleheader split.
 
The Golden Bears got on the scoreboard first with a run in the bottom of the second inning. Hughes singled with one out, advanced to second on a wild pitch, ran to third on a fly ball to right field and then touched home on another wild pitch for a 1-0 KU lead.
 
Millersville stormed back with a three-run home run by Gabi Turner to go on top 3-1 in the third. In the fourth, Stevens and Reimel combined for another run as the former walked and scored on the latter's double into the right center field gap and the deficit was cut to 3-2.
 
In the bottom of the sixth, Harvat had a sacrifice fly with one out that tied the game at 3-3, then pinch runner, Ella McNeff (Factoryville, Pa./Tunkhannock) came home on a wild pitch to give her team a 4-3 edge.
 
The Marauders, however, had their first four batters reach base, and had an RBI double by Kendra Bumgardner and a solo HR from Aleese Angelo to take back the lead and then kept the KU rally at bay in the end.

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