The Bloomsburg University softball team fell to conference rival Kutztown University in the opening round of the 2019 Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) tournament by a final score of 14-1 on Wednesday night. The loss drops the Huskies record to 30-16 (15-6 PSAC) overall while the Golden Bears improved to 36-18 (10-7 PSAC).
Since the annual PSAC tournament is played with a double elimination format the Huskies drop into do-or-die territory as they are now just one loss away from elimination.
Bloomsburg used a strong end to the regular season with six consecutive wins to clinch the PSAC Central division regular season crown and a first round bye of the conference tournament. The Golden Bears however, needed to beat Edinboro earlier on Wednesday afternoon for the right to play the Huskies.
The usually powerful offense of Bloomsburg just could not find any rythym on Wednesday as they were held to just four hits on the afternoon. Meanwhile, the Golden Bears offense erupted for 16 hits and 14 runs on the night.
Hot off the regular season, sophomore pitcher Abby Wild got the ball for the Huskies in the playoff opener after a 17-7 overall record in the regular season. Wild’s 2.00 ERA was good enough for fifth in the PSAC.
WIld was named PSAC Central division player of the week after going 3-0 in her previous three starts after recording 23 strikeouts.
The rivalry game started quietly as Kutztown led just 2-0 after the first two innings of play. The Huskies came out of the gate 0-6 as Kutztown held all the momentum going into the third inning.
The game would see a complete turn-around in the third inning as the Kutztown offense exploded for nine runs to make it 11-0 in favor of the Golden Bears. A collection of seven hits and two errors from Bloomsburg in the top of the third would give the Golden Bears a commanding lead as the Huskies now knew a response was needed.
Wild’s duties on the mound would come to end midway through the third inning as sophomore hurler Tara Baney came in for Bloomsburg. But the Kutztown bats continued to stay hot as an additional three runs were scored off Baney in the inning.
Kutztown then continued to roll in the fourth inning as senior outfielder Tamara Jennings homered to left center to expand the lead to 14-0 in favor of the Golden Bears.
The lone Huskies run in the game came from an RBI single in the bottom of the fourth inning from freshman infielder Sammi Starr, which drove in freshman outfielder Erin Delpierre.
Kutztown would then turn onto cruise control as just one more inning of play was needed before the game would end in a mercy rule at 14-1 after the fifth inning to end the game.
The playoff matchup between Bloomsburg and Kutztown marked the first time in 2019 the two would face off. Bloomsburg leads the all time series with Kutztown by an 88-40-1 margin.
The Huskies will now face elimination as it faces Seton Hill University in the secondary bracket. One more Bloomsburg loss will mean elimination for the Huskies as Bloomsburg will square off with the Griffins on Thursday, May 9 at 9:00 a.m.
With the win, Kutztown will now play West Chester in the next round of the tournament.
PSAC tournament action will continue throughout the rest of the week in Johnstown, Pennsylvania. You can get information on all the action at psacsports.org