SHEPHERDSTOWN, W. Va. – Freshman catcher Samantha Paetow (Fayetteville, Pa./Chambersburg) ripped a tying three-run home run to highlight a five-run, fifth inning as No. 15 Kutztown rallied to take game one 7-6 before falling in game two 7-2 Tuesday afternoon at Shepherd in a Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Eastern Division doubleheader.
 
The Golden Bears (24-7 overall, 8-4 PSAC) and Rams (12-12, 8-4) remain tied for second place in the division.
 
Kutztown trailed 5-2 entering the top of the fifth inning, but Paetow's swing tied the game before Naya Darnowski (Manchester, N.J./Manchester Township) and Emily Henn (Matamoras, Pa./Delaware Valley) tallied back-to-back RBI singles to give KU a two-run cushion, which it needed to secure the victory.
 
Haley Gravish (Hamburg, Pa./Hamburg) threw a complete game to improve her record to 14-3 overall, second-most wins in the conference.
 
Darnowski finished with four hits and two RBIs. Henn recorded three hits and two RBIs. Both Alexa Stevens (Covington Township, Pa./North Pocono) and Kristin Geesey (Bainbridge, Pa./Elizabethtown) tallied two hits with Stevens adding an RBI.
 
Kutztown returns to North Campus Field for a PSAC doubleheader with Millersville this Friday, April 4, with game one beginning at 1 p.m.
 
Kutztown 7, Shepherd 6
 
Kutztown erased a 5-2 deficit with a five-run, top of the fifth inning, highlighted by a three-run home run by Paetow, her second of the season and first since Feb. 1. Her hit tied the score at 5-5 and then Darnowski and Henn recorded back-to-back RBI singles for a two-run cushion that would hold until the end.
 
Gravish earned her 14th win of the season, going the complete game and striking out four.
 
The Golden Bears got on the scoreboard first with a run in the top of the third inning on a Stevens run-scoring single up the middle that brought in Henn. The Rams responded with a three-run HR in the bottom-half of the frame to go up 3-1.
 
KU got one back in the fourth off a Shepherd error, but the Rams once again answered with two runs in the bottom of the fourth on a two-run double as they went up 5-2. Then Kutztown had the breakthrough, five-run fifth.
 
Shepherd scored on a wild pitch in the sixth, but Gravish shut them down.
 
Shepherd 7, Kutztown 2
 
Kutztown recorded just four hits, two from Henn and one each by Brianna Stocklin (Deptford, N.J./Deptford Township) and Darnowski.
 
Shepherd jumped on KU from the get-go, scoring three runs in the bottom of the first and held a 5-0 advantage after five innings of play.
 
The Golden Bears recorded their two runs with two outs in the top of the sixth inning. Stocklin singled and then came home on a Darnowski triple. The senior first baseman then scored on a Henn double. The Rams got the two right back in the bottom-half of the inning.
 
Shepherd finished with 13 hits and rode the arm of PSAC East Pitcher of the Week, Madelayne Ruffner, who threw a complete game and gave up just the four hits and two runs, while striking out 14 batters.

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