KUTZTOWN, Pa. – Kutztown softball swept both of its Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Eastern Division doubleheaders this weekend, capped by 4-1 and 1-0 victories Saturday afternoon over Lock Haven on senior day at North Campus Field.
 
The Golden Bears (27-15 overall, 16-6 PSAC East) defeated Bloomsburg 4-3 and 6-2 on Friday and have now won a season-best five games in-a-row.
 
At the start of the day Saturday, five senior members were recognized for their hard work and dedication over the course of their careers. This included outfielder Jenna Piatkiewicz (Fogelsville, Pa./Parkland), pitcher Amanda Slabicki (Langhorne, Pa./Neshaminy), shortstop Sophia Collins (Lansdale, Pa./North Penn), third baseman Morgan Slomkowski (Toms River, N.J./Toms River East) and second baseman Alexa Stevens (Jefferson Township, Pa./North Pocono).
 
Stevens finished with two hits and scored a run. Slabicki started game one inside the circle and earned the complete game win, her fifth of the season, going seven strong, allowing just an unearned run and four hits, while striking out three batters. The five wins is a career-high for Slabicki.
 
Haley Gravish (Hamburg, Pa./Hamburg) started game two inside the circle and recorded the shutout win, throwing seven strong, giving up just a seventh inning base hit and struck out two to tie the PSAC-lead with her 18th victory of the season.
 
Emily Henn (Matamoras, Pa./Delaware Valley), who leads the conference in hits with 66, had three more on the day and added an RBI. Samantha Paetow (Fayetteville, Pa./Chambersburg) also finished with three hits, including a home run and a double, and contributed two RBIs and a run scored. Caitlin Ashley (Limerick, Pa./Spring-Ford) and Ashley Schulz (Oreland, Pa./Springfield) both tallied two hits and Morgan Kocher (Warminster, Pa./William Tennent) had one hit.
 
Kutztown will conclude its four-day homestand next Tuesday, April 21, when it hosts East Stroudsburg for a PSAC East doubleheader beginning at 1 p.m.
 
Kutztown 4, Lock Haven 1
 
Paetow played a huge part in this one as she went 2-for-3 with two RBIs and scored a run. Her two hits, a home run and double, both brought in runs. She got the scoring going in the game with a solo shot in the bottom of the second inning to give KU a 1-0 lead. Her double came with one out in the bottom of the sixth and her team holding a slim 2-1 advantage.
 
After Lock Haven tied the score at 1-1 in the top of the third inning, Henn gave her team the lead right back in the fifth, coming up clutch on a two-out single to left field that scored pinch runner Leanna Schenk (Roslyn, Pa./Abington) and what proved to be the game-winning run.
 
Following Paetow's RBI double in the sixth, Schulz gave Slabicki another insurance run with an RBI single.
 
Slabicki sat down the final 11 Bald Eagles in-a-row to seal the victory.
 
Kutztown 1, Lock Haven 0
 
This one was more of a pitching and defensive dual and the winning run came on a unique play by one of the seniors honored.
 
Piatkiewicz stepped up to the plate with one out and the bases loaded and delivered a sacrifice fly to second base. Schenk, who was on third, raced home and slid in safely for the winner.
 
Gravish recorded the first 16 outs straight and the first Bald Eagles baserunner came with one out in the bottom of the sixth inning on a fielding error. But the very next at-bat, Collins turned an inning-ending double play on a ground ball.
 
In the seventh, Gravish sat down the first two batters and was one out away from her first career no-hitter, but Lock Haven got to her for a two-out double and, all of a sudden, had the tying run on second. But the graduate student righty got the next batter to line out to Stevens at second base.

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