WEST CHESTER, Pa. – Naya Darnowski (Manchester, N.J./Manchester Township) connected on two home runs and Emily Henn (Matamoras, Pa./Delaware Valley) added another as Kutztown softball bounced back from a 7-4 game one defeat to win game two 9-3 to split a Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Eastern Division doubleheader at West Chester Friday afternoon.
 
The Golden Bears (29-20 overall, 17-13 PSAC) still have some work to do to qualify for the PSAC Tournament. And it comes down to the final day of the regular season tomorrow, Saturday, April 27.
 
Kutztown is at Shippensburg (31-15, 18-12) for two games, beginning at 11:30 a.m. To secure a PSAC Tournament berth, KU must either win at least one game against the Raiders, or have one of either Millersville (25-22, 16-14) or Bloomsburg (29-20, 16-14) sweep the other to avoid a three-way tie for the final two spots, where the Golden Bears would be left out due to losing three-out-of-four to both the Marauders and Huskies.
 
Darnowski and Henn both finished with four hits on the day and three runs scored. Darnowski also had three RBIs while Henn added four. Brinna Stocklin and Alexa Stevens (Covington Township, Pa./North Pocono) each recorded three hits. Hannah Reimel (Warminster, Pa./William Tennent) and Sarah Harvat (Bangor, Pa./Bangor) tallied two hits between the two of them.
 
Haley Gravish (Hamburg, Pa./Hamburg) threw a complete game for the victory inside the circle in game two, striking out four and allowing just two earned runs for her 16th win of the season, seventh-most in the conference.
 
Darnowski hit a two-run HR in the top of the first inning of the nightcap to stake the Maroon and Gold to a quick 2-0 lead just two batters in. Her second at-bat of the game, in the top of the third, produced a solo shot to put her team ahead 4-1. Henn then broke open the game with a three-run drive in the top of the fourth and an 8-1 edge. The freshman also had an RBI single in the seventh, joining run-scoring hits by Harvat and Reimel in the second and third innings, respectively.
 
In game one, Kutztown jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the third after Kristin Geesey (Bainbridge, Pa./Elizabethtown) recorded a sacrifice fly in the second and Darnowski and Henn had RBI singles in the third. But the Golden Rams (30-19, 18-12) scored seven runs in three innings to take the lead and held on in the end.

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