Box Score 1 | Box Score 2



SHIPPENSBURG, Pa. – It took a little bit longer than originally anticipated because of rain, but the Kutztown softball team took care of business early and clinched a spot in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Tournament with a 12-7 game one victory at Shippensburg Saturday.
 
The Golden Bears (31-20 overall, 19-13 PSAC) swept the season series with the Raiders (31-17, 18-14), winning all four games, and are entering the postseason on a three-game win streak.
 
Brianna Hughes (Hatboro, Pa./Upper Moreland) has continued her hot streak at the plate, leading the Maroon and Gold offense going 5-for-6 at the plate, including two doubles and a grand slam, with 10 RBIs (five in each game) and scoring four runs.
 
Freshman Emily Henn (Matamoras, Pa./Delaware Valley) has also been on a tear. She had six hits on the day with four RBIs and three runs scored.
 
Naya Darnowski (Manchester, N.J./Manchester Township) finished with four hits and scored four runs. Brianna Stocklin (Deptford, N.J./Deptford Township) and Sarah Harvat (Bangor, Pa./Bangor) both ended the day with three hits and two RBIs. Hannah Reimel (Warminster, Pa./William Tennent) and Morgan Slomkowski (Toms River, N.J./Toms River East) both recorded two hits with the former contributing two RBIs.
 
Amanda Slabicki (Langhorne, Pa./Neshaminy) earned her first win of the season by coming into the game in relief in game one and throwing four strong innings. Haley Gravish (Hamburg, Pa./Hamburg) struck out seven batters in a complete game victory in game two for her 17th win.
 
Kutztown will now set its sights towards the PSAC Tournament, which begins on Wednesday, May 1, at Veteran Park in Quakertown.
 
Kutztown 12, Shippensburg 7
 
Kutztown scored twice in its first at-bats and then fell behind 4-2 in the fourth before a six-run fifth inning that allowed it to take the all-important victory in game one.
 
Four Golden Bears had multi-hit games inside the top-five of the lineup as Henn went 4-for-5, Darnowski was 3-for-4, Stocklin went 2-for-4 and Hughes finished 2-for-2. The two teams combined for 28 hits.
 
Slabicki was just as important on the defensive side of things as the sophomore entered the game in the bottom of the third inning with one out and her team trailing 4-2. But she threw four solid innings and kept the Raiders at bay, for the most part, slowing down an offense that scored four runs in the first 2.1 innings.
 
Henn singled and Hughes hit a sacrifice fly to put the Maroon and Gold out in front 2-0 in the top of the first inning. Shippensburg's Morgan Lindsay, who hit three of her team's four home runs, had a two-run long ball in the bottom of the first to tie the game at 2-2, and then had another one in the bottom of the third to give Ship a 4-2 advantage.
 
Slomkowski doubled in a run in the fourth to cut the deficit to just one and Henn tied the game once again at 4-4 with a run-scoring single in the fifth. Hughes then delivered a big hit as her double the opposite way to right center brought around three runs and a 7-4 lead. Harvat capped the inning with a two-run single.
 
Hughes and Henn combined once again to put runs on the scoreboard as the senior connected on an RBI single in the sixth and the freshman's two-run triple in the seventh put Kutztown on top 12-4.
 
Kutztown 11, Shippensburg 6
 
Just like in game one, Kutztown used a big inning where it scored a slew of runs to comeback and take control of the game.
 
After a scoreless first inning, Kristin Geesey (Bainbridge, Pa./Elizabethtown) doubled in the first runs of the ball game, bringing around Slomkowski and Hughes for a 2-0 lead. Shippensburg answered with three in the bottom-half of the frame before the Golden Bears batted around in the lineup and scored seven runs for a 9-3 advantage. Stocklin had a two-run single and Reimel walked in a run, but the highlight was a grand slam by Hughes to cap the inning.
 
Shippensburg cut its deficit to 9-5 with a run in the fourth and fifth innings, but RBIs from the senior duo of Reimel and Hughes in the top of the sixth added the runs right back for KU and Gravish shut down the door in the end.