BLOOMSBURG, Pa. – Kutztown softball continued its hot start to Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Eastern Division play as it swept a doubleheader on the road Sunday at Bloomsburg, winning game one 8-3 and taking game two 9-1 in five innings.
 
The Golden Bears (14-10 overall, 5-1 PSAC East) have now won five of their first six games in conference action, also sweeping Mansfield last weekend.
 
Timely hitting for KU and poor defense by the Huskies (13-5, 4-2) allowed the Maroon and Gold to rally in the sixth inning of the opener and start the day off on the right foot. In the nightcap, Kutztown jumped on the scoreboard early and often and never looked back, finishing the game with a mercy rule against a BU team that entered the day unbeaten in the PSAC and atop of the division.
 
Emily Henn (Matamoras, Pa./Delaware Valley), Alexa Stevens (Jefferson Township, Pa./North Pocono) and Samantha Paetow (Fayetteville, Pa./Chambersburg) all combined for three hits on the day, with Stevens connecting on two home runs and Paetow blasting a HR and a triple, the three-bagger the clinching hit in game one. Morgan Slomkowski (Toms River, N.J./Toms River East), who had two hits and scored five runs, also drilled a home run. Ashley Schulz (Oreland, Pa./Springfield) and Caitlin Ashley (Limerick, Pa./Spring-Ford) both finished with two hits on the day.
 
Abbey Wagner (Quakertown, Pa./Quakertown) recorded the win in game one, coming on in relief in the fifth inning and throwing two shutout innings for her third victory of the season. Haley Gravish (Hamburg, Pa./Hamburg), who recorded the final three outs of the opener, threw a complete game for the win in game two, allowing just four hits, striking out three.
 
Morgan Kocher (Warminster, Pa./William Tennent) and Jamie Madara (Levittown, Pa./Academy of the New Church) each had a hit.
 
Kutztown continues its busy week with another road doubleheader tomorrow, Monday, March 30, when it travels to take on Lock Haven with game one scheduled to begin at 1 p.m.
 
Kutztown 8, Bloomsburg 3
 
The Kutztown lineup came through when it needed to most, scoring six runs in the last two innings, including the game-changing, four-run top of the sixth inning, highlighted by a bases clearing triple from Paetow to erase a 3-2 deficit and push KU over the top for good. The sophomore catcher recorded four RBIs, with her solo HR in the top of the fourth inning breaking a 1-1 deadlock.
 
KU scored the game's first run as Ashley was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded to pick up an RBI. Bloomsburg tied the score with a solo home run in the bottom of the second and then took a 3-2 lead with a two-run fourth.
 
Paetow's three-run triple with one out cleared the bases and put her team up for good 5-3. Jenna Piatkiewicz (Fogelsville, Pa./Parkland) followed and reached safely on a Huskies error to push the advantage to 6-3. In the seventh, the Maroon and Gold added two more insurance runs on a solo HR by Stevens and an RBI groundout from Ashley.
 
Three pitchers helped KU to the win, including starter Amanda Slabicki (Langhorne, Pa./Neshaminy), Wagner and Gravish.
 
Kutztown 9, Bloomsburg 1 (5 inn.)
 
Kutztown scored seven runs in the opening two innings to take a commanding 7-1 lead after two and then added a run in both the fourth and fifth innings and Gravish did her thing inside the circle to end the game early after five.
 
Stevens finished with three RBIs, including another home run, both Paetow and Ashley had a pair of RBIs and Slomkowski hit her team-leading fifth long ball of the season to highlight the Golden Bears lineup.