Bloom-who? Shippen-what?

Recap:
Sunday, April 6 @ Bloomsburg:
Game 1: W 5-1
A Steph Denlinger three-run homer, coupled with a Kathy Gregg two-run blast, was enough to push KU past 8^th-ranked Bloomsburg by a score of 5-1. Kim Morrison and Gregg each had two hits in the win. Kait Arbogast was on the hill for KU and allowed just one run on five hits in a complete game effort. She also struck out eight en route to the win over BU pitcher Ashley Lynn, who along with Arbogast and Lock Haven’s Kristin Erb, is arguably one of the top three pitchers in the entire PSAC.
Game 2: W 2-1
Monica Glomb continued her hot streak, allowing one run on six hits in a complete game effort. The freshman also struck out 10 en route to her 10^th win of the season. KU had just four hits in the game, but two of them were solo homeruns off the bats of Denlinger and Ashley Fitzgerald.

Monday, April 7 vs. Shippensburg:
Game 1: W 6-5
Denlinger hit a game-tying solo homer in the seventh and then drove in the winning run with a bases-loaded single in the bottom of the eighth to carry KU to a 6-5 win. Denlinger, Fitzgerald, and Krista Cameron each had a pair of hits, while freshman Maggie Reifsnyder broke out with a three hit game. Glomb allowed five runs, but none were earned on six hits in 5.1 innings of work. Mary Hoch was the winning pitcher, striking out six hitters while tossing 2.2 perfect innings in relief.
Game 2: W 2-0
KU scores just two runs on four hits, but Hoch and Arbogast teamed up to shutout the Raiders in the 2-0 affair. Hoch tossed the first four innings and allowed just two hits before Arbogast threw three innings of one-hit ball for the save. Fitzgerald led the offense with a 2-for-3 day, while Denlinger and Cameron each added a hit a piece.

What we liked:
Just as we expected, the outstanding pitching depth and the big bats carried KU through its toughest four-game set of the season. No one could have predicted that the Golden Bears would sweep both Bloomsburg and Shippensburg, but what a statement this team made. The Kait Arbogast-Monica Glomb-Mary Hoch pitching trifecta allowed a whopping two earned runs in 29 total innings during the four game set. The three pitchers combined to go 4-0, struck out 34 batters, and their combined ERA was 0.49.

The offense was led by their own powerful trifecta: Steph Denlinger, Ashley Fitzgerald, and Krista Cameron. Denlinger hit .455, scored five times, and drove in six over the weekend. Fitzgerald hit .462 and Cameron was .385 at the plate. Freshman Maggie Reifsnyder saw limited action, but hit .429 and drove in two runs in just seven at bats.

What we didn’t like:
The only weakness was the recurring one: top of the order hitting. Following leadoff hitter Kim Morrison’s two hits against Bloomsburg in game one on Sunday, she went hitless in the next three games. She ended up 2-of-16 (.125) and scored just once. In the two slot, Maria Schiavo was not much better, as she was just 2-of-15 (.133) at the dish and scored one run. KU is going to need more production and base runners if they hope to do damage at the regional and national level.

Impact:
The wins, as you might imagine, are huge. They improve KU’s PSAC East record to 9-1, which puts them three games ahead of second-place Bloomsburg (5-3) and four games ahead of the third-place combo of West Chester and Shippensburg (4-4, tie). Kutztown entered last week ranked 18^th in division II, but this should push them to near the top 10—especially since Bloomsburg was (for some reason) ranked ahead of them in eighth. The weekend sweep solidifies KU as the best team in East, which will make April 22nd^’s showdown at North Campus Field with Lock Haven (the top team in the PSAC West, the 2006 National Champions, and the 2007 national runner-ups), one for the ages.