KUTZTOWN, Pa. – Kutztown softball is back in the NCAA Tournament and is looking to bounce back after last week's early PSAC Tournament exit. KU is a high seed, ranked third, and will travel to the second seed, East Stroudsburg, for an Atlantic Regional pod beginning Thursday.
 
The Golden Bears (35-20 overall) earned a berth in NCAAs for the sixth straight season and 24th time overall. They will see a familiar opponent on day one Thursday, as they will take on the sixth seed, West Chester (30-25), from Creekview Park in Stroudsburg, at 1:30 p.m. The two teams just met last Wednesday at PSACs, with the Golden Rams winning 9-5.
 
The second seed, East Stroudsburg (36-19), is the host of the regional pod and will take on the seventh seed, Fairmont State (37-13), in the other matchup Thursday at 11:00 a.m. Winners of games one and two Thursday will meet Friday at 10:00 a.m., in game three, and the losers of those two games Thursday will play Friday in game four at 12:30 p.m., in the first elimination game. The loser of game three and winner of game four matchup at 3:00 p.m., Friday in the second elimination game of the day. The last two teams standing will play in game six Saturday at 1:00 p.m., with an if necessary game seven following at 3:30 p.m.
 
TICKETING INFORMATION

• General admission all-day passes 
• Cash only
• $10 for adults
• $5 for students (with ID), children, adults 65 & older, military and first responders at the gate

 
Kutztown defeated West Chester in three-of-four regular season games, but lost in the most recent meeting in Binghampton, N.Y., last week at PSACs. KU and ESU split the four games they've met in this season. The Golden Bears are 10-1 all-time against Fairmont State and last met in 2022 at regionals, a 6-2 KU victory.
 
The batting lineup is led literally and figuratively by junior center fielder Emily Henn (Matamoras, Pa./Delaware Valley). In the leadoff spot, the PSAC East Athlete of the Year is sixth in the conference with a .415 batting average, is second in hits with 85 and fourth with 57 runs scored. She also ranks in the top 10 in slugging percentage (.668), doubles (16) and triples (6). Along with Henn earning All-PSAC First Team status, she was joined by senior third baseman Morgan Slomkowski (Toms River, N.J./Toms River East) and senior second baseman Alexa Stevens (Jefferson Township, Pa./North Pocono), who were voted to the Second Team. Slomkowski ranks sixth in the PSAC in home runs (11) and eighth in RBIs (44). Stevens is second on the team in batting average (.318), hits (54), runs (43), RBIs (40) and HRs (10).
 
Inside the circle, graduate student pitcher Haley Gravish (Hamburg, Pa./Hamburg) received All-PSAC East Second Team honors. She is tied for second in the conference with 23 wins and is five victories shy of becoming the program's all-time career winningest pitcher. Gravish has a 2.71 ERA, sixth-best in the PSAC.
 
The Maroon and Gold have played in the Super Regional Round each of the last two seasons and three of the last four overall. They enter NCAAs coming off a 1-2 showing at the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Championships this past week, defeating Slippery Rock and falling to West Chester and IUP.
 
Head coach Judy Lawes, in her 39th season at the helm, is six victories shy of surpassing Jan Hutchinson for the PSAC's career wins leader with 1,215. She has led Kutztown to NCAAs 24 times, including this season, and have an overall record of 50-49 and have a national runner-up finish in 2013 and a third-place finish in 2012.
 
In the other pod, PSAC Tournament Champion and top seed Shippensburg (38-16), earned the right to host the other half of the Atlantic Regional Tournament and will open its campaign against CIAA Champion, Claflin (30-11), while MEC teams in Glenville State (45-14) and Charleston (45-16) are the fourth and fifth seeds in the Tournament.
 
Winners of the two pods will meet in Super Regionals, a best-of-three series on Thursday, May 21, and Friday, May 22, at the highest remaining seed, for a trip to Chattanooga, Tenn., and the championship tournament at Frost Stadium at Warner Park.