MILLERSVILLE, Pa. – Friday afternoon couldn't have gone much better for No. 19 Kutztown softball as KU took care of business on its road trip and made quick work of Millersville in a Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Eastern Division doubleheader sweep, and in doing so, clinched a PSAC Tournament berth.
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The Golden Bears (36-13 overall, 20-10 PSAC) won both games in six innings, winning game one 10-2 and took game two 11-3. They have now swept back-to-back East doubleheaders and won four straight games.
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Brianna Stocklin (Deptford, N.J./Deptford Township),
Alexa Stevens (Covington Township, Pa./North Pocono) and
Samantha Paetow (Fayetteville, Pa./Chambersburg) all finished the day with four hits. Stocklin scored three runs and had a triple and Stevens added four RBIs, scored three runs and hit a triple and a grand slam.
Morgan Slomkowski (Toms River, N.J./Toms River East) and
Kristin Geesey (Bainbridge, Pa./Elizabethtown) both recorded three hits with the former contributing three RBIs and scoring a run and the latter adding two RBIs and two runs scored.
Emily Henn (Matamoras, Pa./Delaware Valley) tallied two hits and five RBIs and
Naya Darnowski (Manchester, N.J./Manchester Township) had two hits, three RBIs and scored four runs.
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For the second straight doubleheader, both starting pitchers,
Haley Gravish (Hamburg, Pa./Hamburg) and
Natalee Harvey (Swanton, Vt./Missisquoi Valley Union) earned victories in throwing complete games.
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The Maroon and Gold are trending to be the second seed from the East at PSACs next week in Quakertown.
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Kutztown completes its regular season portion of its 2025 schedule on Sunday, April 27, with a PSAC East doubleheader against Shippensburg at home, beginning at 1 p.m. It will be senior day at North Campus Field as head coach
Judy Lawes and her staff will recognize eight senior student-athletes prior to game one.
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Kutztown 10, Millersville 2 (6 inn.)
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Kutztown did all of its damage on offense in the middle-to-late part of the game, scoring three runs in the third inning, one in each of the fourth and fifth innings and five in the sixth.
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Henn connected on a three-run home run in the third to break open a scoreless draw. Pinch runner
Leanna Schenk (Roslyn, Pa./Abington) scored on a wild pitch in the fourth and Slomkowski had an RBI sacrifice fly in the fifth. In the sixth, Darnowski singled through the ride side to bring around Geesey and then Stevens cleared the bases with a grand slam to put an exclamation point on the game.
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Gravish threw all six innings and allowed just five hits, striking out eight.
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Kutztown 11, Millersville 3 (6 inn.)
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Kutztown scored two runs in both the top of the first and sixth innings, but truly won the game with its seven-run, third inning where 12 hitters came to the plate.
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Darnowski and Slomkowski both recorded RBIs in the first with a ground out and single, respectively, to push KU on top 2-0 early. Millersville wound up tying the game with a run in both the bottom of the first and second innings.
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But in the third inning, the Golden Bears responded to the tune of seven runs and six hits, all consecutively to open the frame as nine different players reached base safely. Henn ripped a two-run home run, Slomkowski had an RBI double, Paetow contributed an RBI single and Darnowski added an RBI sacrifice fly as the Maroon and Gold took a 9-2 advantage.
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In the sixth, Geesey doubled to right center to bring home two runs and end the game after six.
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In six innings, Harvey allowed seven hits and just two earned runs, striking out five.
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