Bowie, Md. - The Bloomsburg softball team wrapped up its weekend road trip with a pair of victories over Bowie State on Sunday. With the doubleheader sweep, head coach Susan Kocher earned her 400th career victory as head coach at Bloomsburg.

The Huskies (9-3) dominated game one with a 16-2 result to wrap things up in five innings. Callie Sowers (Irwin, Pa/Hempfield Area) picked up the win, giving up two runs on two hits with nine strikeouts. Bloomsburg as a team recorded 11 hits and drew five walks, with each member of the starting lineup scoring a run. 

The Bulldogs (6-13) trailed for the majority of game two but fought well to defend their home field. The Huskies jumped out to an early 3-0 lead, but home runs in the second and fifth innings for Bowie State tied the game at 3-3. With the game on the line in the seventh, Bloomsburg scored three runs to get the win. Sarah Yamrick (Fort Myers, Fla./Bishop Verot) picked up her third consecutive win, tossing the full seven innings with three runs allowed and seven strikeouts. 

How It Happened:

Game One:
After a scoreless first inning, the Huskies' offense awoke for a nine-run output in the top of the second. The first two runs touched home without Bloomsburg intervening; Malauni Frost (Harrisburg, Pa./Harrisburg) drew a bases-loaded walk, and Josie Straigis (Greensburg, Pa./Greater Latrobe) scored on a ball that got behind the Bulldogs' catcher. Bella Culp (Harrisburg, Pa/Central Dauphin) busted the game wide open with a bases-clearing, three-RBI triple to make it a 5-0 game for the Huskies. Following a sacrifice fly from Taylor Kranzley (Northampton, Pa./Northampton) to tack on another, Bloomsburg ended the inning with home runs from Allie Wenrich (Dauphin, Pa./Central Dauphin) and Emma Little (Pittsburgh, Pa./Penn-Trafford) to make it 9-0.

Bowie State got one back via its own deep fly, but the gap proved insurmountable for the home team. Neither side would score again until the fifth inning, where the Huskies replicated their early-inning performance with a seven-run display in the top half of the frame. 

After two runners reached safely, Yamrick started the scoring with an RBI single to give Bloomsburg 10. Frost drove in her second run of the contest with a double past the Bulldogs' outfield to make it 11-1. The Huskies scored their final five runs of the inning with two outs, beginning with two from the leader in RBI in Culp. Bloomsburg recorded three consecutive RBI-producing base hits – singles from Kranzley and Mia Nemeth (Drums, Pa/Marian Catholic) and a triple from Wenrich.

Game Two:
Unlike the first action of the day, the scoring started in the first inning for the Huskies. Yamrick helped her own cause on the mound to begin the second game, driving in the first run with a single down the third-base line to make it 1-0. Bloomsburg quickly added to its lead in the second, scoring another two runs with the bases loaded. Wenrich drove in the first by legging out an infield single before Nemeth walked in another run for the Huskies. Bloomsburg could have had a larger cushion, but the team left 11 runners stranded, including nine in scoring position.

The opportunities left on the table from the Huskies turned into chances to get back into the game for Bowie State. The Bulldogs used two home runs, a solo shot in the bottom of the second, and a two-run blast in the bottom of the fifth to equalize the game at 3-3.

Yamrick recovered well following the home run, escaping the fifth without further damage. The right-handed pitcher retired the side during the bottom of the sixth to set up her offense for the seventh. Bloomsburg finally broke through in the final inning with three runs to help create some insurance for its defense. Yamrick opened the seventh with a leadoff single and was soon joined on the bases paths by Taylor Welsh (Pottsville, Pa./Pottsville) and a pinch-hitting Straigis. Culp's patience in the subsequent at-bat led to another walked-in run for the Huskies to take a 4-3 lead. Kranzley supported the cause in the next at-bat with a two-RBI single to grow the lead to three as the inning turned to the bottom of the seventh. 

Yamrick found herself in some trouble in the bottom half of the frame, with the first two batters for Bowie State reaching safely via a walk and single. The sophomore pitcher hung touch and got the strikeout on the lone Bulldog to produce any run-scoring offense for the first out. Yamrick had another slip, giving up another walk to load the bases with one out and the winning run stepping into the box. After a multi-pitch battle with multiple fouled-off attempts, Yamrick got the next batter to weakly pop up to catcher Reagan Wiest (Sunbury, Pa./Shikellamy) for two outs in the inning. The right-handed pitcher got the job done in the end, with the Huskies' middle infield supporting their pitcher on a sharply hit ground ball to get the force out at second base to secure the sweep.

Numbers of Note
400 - Following in the footsteps of her former coach and predecessor, Kocher has continued a strong legacy of success for the Bloomsburg softball program. Sunday's two victories against Bowie State gave the skipper another career milestone with 400 wins.

8 - The Bloomsburg softball team has been doing what is necessary to come away with wins after three losses in its first four games. The Huskies currently own an eight-game winning streak. That stretch is the first over five games since doing so twice during the 2022 season.

101 - Little is in a position to climb up the Bloomsburg record books after reaching the 100-RBI milestone. The senior catcher is the 17th player in program history to reach the mark and currently sits with 101.

4 - On a windy day for both teams, the Huskies were hindered more by the wind's consequences. All five of Bowie State's runs scored on Sunday resulted from four home runs. Entering the day, Bloomsburg gave up two through its first 10 games.

100 - Another milestone for the Huskies: Kranzley reached 100 career hits with her single in game one.

On The Horizon:
The Bloomsburg softball team plays its final games before it begins conference action with a doubleheader at 2:00 p.m. on Tuesday, March 18, against Felician.