KUTZTOWN, Pa. - The Bloomsburg University softball team dropped both games of a doubleheader at Kutztown University on Saturday afternoon as the Huskies dropped to 3-7 overall and 1-7 in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Eastern Division. Bloomsburg suffered a 1-0 loss in ten innings in game one and then saw a rally attempt fall short in a 9-5 setback during the nightcap. The Golden Bears improved to 7-3 overall and 6-2 in the divisional standings.
Game one featured a pitching dual between senior righthander
Tara Baney (Howard, Pa./Bellefonte Area) and her counterpart from Kutztown, junior Bridget Bailey, as both pitchers went the distance with the winning run crossing the plate for the Golden Bears in the bottom of the tenth inning.
With Paola Texidor placed on second to start the home half of the tenth, Kate Ostaszewski singled down the left field line to put runners on the corners with nobody out against Baney. Hannah Auvil followed with a walk-off sacrifice fly to right field that was deep enough to plate Texidor for the only run of the contest.
Baney was sensational in the circle but fell to 1-4 on the season. She pitched 9.1 innings and allowed an unearned run on six hits, walked three, and struck out nine. The nine strikeouts tied a season-high and were two shy of her career-high of 11 punchouts she recorded against Clarion back on April 7, 2018.
Bailey, meanwhile, went all ten innings for Kutztown and allowed five hits while walking one and striking out two. She improved to 4-0 on the season.
Junior
Sammi Starr (Berwick, Pa./Berwick Area) and senior
Nicolette Ray (Abington, Pa./Abington) each had two hits while freshman
Kayleigh Lenner (Sunbury, Pa./Shikellamy) added the other for the Huskies in the opener. Kutztown had six different players record one hit in game one.
Kutztown jumped out to a 6-0 lead against redshirt junior righthander
Abby Wild (Collegeville, Pa./Perkiomen Valley) after two innings in game two. The hosts sent ten batters to the plate in the bottom of the second inning and plated six runs on six hits and a walk to take control of game two.
The Huskies, however, would not go quietly as they scored four times in the top of the fourth and another run in the top of the fifth to cut the Kutztown advantage to 6-5.
In the fourth, Lenner reached on a one-out error to start the rally. Ray and junior
Danielle Barnes (Coopersburg, Pa./Southern Lehigh) ripped back-to-back singles to load the bases before junior
Rebecca Rossi (Hazleton, Pa./Hazleton Area) drove home the first run by reaching on an infield single to plate Lenner. Two batters later, Starr singled with two outs to drive home Ray and Barnes to cut the Kutztown lead to 6-3. Junior
Erin DelPierre (Harrisburg, Pa./Central Dauphin) followed with an infield single which scored Rossi to pull the Huskies to within two. Kutztown starter Sarah Harvey then retired senior
Briannah Dobson (York, Pa./Central York) on a fielder's choice to end the inning.
Kutztown went to the bullpen in the fifth as Amber Brugger came on in relief of Harvey. Lenner again started a rally as she reached on a one-out single and then scored on a double from Ray as Bloomsburg pulled to within a run at 6-5. The Huskies would eventually load the bases as Rossi reached on an error and sophomore
Savannah Doney (Trout Run, Pa./North Penn-Liberty) drew a two-out walk. But, Bailey the game-one winner, Bailey, was summoned from the bullpen and she thwarted the Huskies' comeback bid by retiring Starr to end the inning.
Escaping the jam seemed to spark the Golden Bears as they added two insurance runs in the bottom of the fifth and one more in the home half of the sixth to extend the advantage to 9-5. The Huskies started the top of the seventh with consecutive singles from Barnes and Rossi but both runners were left stranded as Kutztown completed the two-game sweep.
Wild dropped to 2-3 on the season as she allowed nine runs on 12 hits in her six innings. She walked two and struck out four. Harvey improved to 2-1 for Kutztown after allowing four runs - all unearned - on six hits in four innings. She did not walk a batter and struck out two. Bailey earned her first save of the season by tossing 2.1 scoreless innings of relief, allowing three hits and a walk. She struck out one.
Rossi led the offense by going 3-for-4 with a run scored and an RBI while DelPierre, Ray, and Barnes each had a pair of hits in game two. Auvil went 4-for-4 with three RBI to lead the Golden Bears.
The two teams will complete the series with a doubleheader on Sunday, March 21, at Jan M. Hutchinson Field. First pitch of game one is scheduled for noon.
