KUTZTOWN, Pa. – The Kutztown softball lineup came up clutch in different situations, and the pitching staff was on point all day to help guide it to two, one-run wins Saturday afternoon in a Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Eastern Division sweep over Shippensburg at North Campus Field.
 
The Golden Bears (19-12 overall, 7-5 PSAC) had comeback victories in both, winning game one 5-4 and game two 3-2.
 
The KU lineup scored four of its five runs in the opener with two outs and then recorded two of the three runs in the nightcap with two outs. Natalee Harvey (Swanton, Vt./Missisquoi Valley Union) and Haley Gravish (Hamburg, Pa./Hamburg) both threw complete games, giving up just two earned runs each to earn the wins, with Harvey starting game one and Gravish getting the ball in game two. The duo both won their ninth games this season.
 
Brianna Stocklin (Deptford, N.J./Deptford Township), Kristin Geesey (Bainbridge, Pa./Elizabethtown) and Emily Henn (Matamoras, Pa./Delaware Valley) all finished with three hits. Henn recorded three RBIs and had a triple and double, both brought home important runs. Stocklin had a home run to go along with two RBIs. Naya Darnowski (Manchester, N.J./Manchester Township), who ended the day with two hits, was the hero of game one as her single in the bottom of the seventh brought home the game-winning run in a previously tied ball game.
 
Due to all of the rain last week, Kutztown has a quick turnaround and will host West Chester for a doubleheader, tomorrow, Sunday, April 7, with game one starting at 1 p.m.
 
Kutztown 5, Shippensburg 4
 
In a wild, back-and-forth game, Kutztown, being the home team, had the last at-bats, and it took full advantage in the bottom of the seventh inning. KU got the first three batters on base safely with nobody out, as Alexa Stevens (Covington Township, Pa./North Pocono) reached on an error, Geesey singled and Brianna Hughes (Hatboro, Pa./Upper Moreland) walked. After the PSAC's leader in wins (12), Alicia Ball, recorded an out in the next batter, Darnowski stepped up confidently and ripped a single that hit off the left center field fence and scored Stevens for the game's winning run.
 
There were three ties and two lead changes in the game and the teams combined for 19 hits with KU tallying 11.
 
Harvey, who improved upon her record to 9-5 overall, outdueled Ball, who also entered the game in the top-five in the conference in earned run average (1.12). Harvey finished with a complete game and gave up just two earned runs and had seven strikeouts.
 
The Raiders got on the scoreboard first with a run in the top of the first. Ball kept the Golden Bears lineup in check the first three innings, but she couldn't in the last four innings as they had at least one run come across home plate in each inning and every run but the final one came with two outs, showing how clutch the bats of KU were.
 
Stocklin recorded an RBI single up the middle in the bottom of the fourth to give the Maroon and Gold their first run of the game. Geesey followed suit in the bottom of the fifth with a two-out, run-scoring single up the middle to give her team their first lead of the game at 2-1.
 
Shippensburg took back the lead on a two-run double in the top of the sixth before Henn delivered in the clutch with a two-out, two-run triple the opposite way to right field and a 4-3 advantage. It was just the fifth extra-base hit Ball has given up all season and the first in her last eight starts.
 
A crazy seventh inning started with the Raiders tying back up the game with a two-out single. It could have been much worse if Henn had not thrown out the runner at second base trying to score. The Kutztown bats took advantage in the bottom-half of the frame, getting the first three hitters on base before Darnowski's game-winning hit.
 
Kutztown 3, Shippensburg 2
 
Once again, two-out hits that scored runs was the story for Kutztown. Henn's RBI double was the first run of the game for either team in the bottom of the third inning, coming with two gone.
 
After Shippensburg (22-8, 11-5) took the lead with a run in both the fourth and fifth innings, the Golden Bears had the deciding inning in the bottom of the fifth, bringing around two runs to take back a lead at 3-2 before Gravish shut the door on the Raiders.
 
Stocklin led off the frame with a solo HR, her second of the season, to tie the game at 2-2. The junior, who scored twice on the day, ranks fourth in the conference on the season with 32 runs. After Shippensburg recorded the next two outs, Alexa Stevens (Covington Township, Pa./North Pocono) delivered with a solo home run to straight away center field, her fourth long ball of the year.
 
Gravish then collected six straight outs to finish off the game.

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