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Monday, April 21, 2008

Ladies clinch playoff berth

Recap:
Friday, April 18 vs. Bloomsburg:
Game 1: L 2-5
Monica Glomb was lit up for five runs, four earned, on 10 hits in a complete game effort as KU fell 5-2 in game one. Steph Denlinger hit a two-run homer in the bottom of the sixth to cut the KU deficit to one run, but the Huskies answered with a two spot in the top of the seventh to put the game out of reach. Kathy Gregg was 2-for-3 at the plate.
Game 2: L 1-4
The Golden Bears left 10 runners stranded in a 4-1 game two loss, allowing the Huskies to complete the daily sweep. Maria Schiavo and Gregg each had two hits in the loss. Maggie Reifsnyder was 0-for-3 and stranded seven runs. Kait Arbogast took the loss for KU, allowing four runs on nine hits in seven innings.

Saturday, April 19 @ East Stroudsburg:
Game 1: W 10-1
The Golden Bears bounced back on Sunday with a 10-1 smoking of ESU in game one. KU put up 17 hits in the win, led by three-hit days by Maria Schiavo and Caitlin Hague. Steph Denlinger, Ashley Fitzgerald, Krista Cameron, and Maggie Reifsnyder each had two hits. Arbogast was the winning pitcher, tossing a complete game, four-hitter. She allowed just one unearned run and struck out nine.
Game 2: W 6-2
The Golden Bears put 10 more hits on the board in game two en route to a 6-2 win. Hague, Kathy Gregg, and Krista Tedjeske carried the offensive load with two hits a piece. Tedjeske scored twice and drove in two runs. Mary Hoch was the starting pitcher for KU but was replaced by Monica Glomb after 2.2 innings of work. Glomb was the winning pitcher, tossing a scoreless 4.1 innings, while allowing just two hits.

What we liked:
The Golden Bears bounced back nicely on Saturday after a big letdown on Friday afternoon. Besides the two losses to Bloomsburg on Friday, ESU was the only other PSAC East team that had beaten KU this season. Instead of coming out in a funk against a team that knew they had it in them to knock off a good team like KU, the Golden Bears came out swinging and dominated the Warriors. Caitlin Hague was 6-of-10 (.600) and Kathy Gregg was 7-of-12 (.583) over the weekend. Both drove in two runs and scored twice. Maria Schiavo had a decent weekend, going 5-for-13 (.385) at the dish. Ashley Fitzgerald was 4-for-11 (.364), while Steph Denlinger was 4-for-12 (.333) and drove in five runs. Kim Morrison scored five runs in the four games. Krista Tedjeske seems to have broken from her slump. She was 3-for-10 (.300) at the plate, scored twice, and drove in two.

What we didn’t like:
You won’t see these names in this section very often, but the pitching wasn’t on the top of its game this weekend. Ace Kait Arbogast was 1-1 with a 2.15 ERA in 13 innings of work. She allowed 13 hits in that span, but did strike out 15 hitters. Monica Glomb was also 1-1, but with a bit higher of an ERA at 2.52 in 11.1 innings. Mary Hoch threw just 2.2 innings in game two against ESU and allowed four earned runs on five hits. At the plate, Krista Cameron hit a speed bump, managing just a 3-for-15 (.200) weekend. Maggie Reifsnyder seems to have cooled off, as she was 3-of-13 at the plate, including 0-for-6 against BU. Overall, the offensive output looks good for the weekend, but KU left a lot of runners on base. This was most notable in game two against Bloomsburg on Friday, as KU certainly had several opportunities to take the lead and even run away with that game. The Golden Bears did not bring their A-game on Friday and one can only hope that their performance will serve as a wake up call for the rest of the season.

Impact:
The Golden Bears sweep of ESU on Saturday clinched them a spot in the PSAC playoffs. KU (17-3) also had a chance to clinch the PSAC East title this weekend and, although they still maintain a three-game lead in the division, Bloomsburg (13-5) is certainly not out of the running. The Huskies will likely hold on for one of the two remaining playoff spots, but the third is certainly up for grabs. Shippensburg (9-9) holds the spot right now, but West Chester (8-10), ESU (8-12), Mansfield (6-12), and Millersville (5-15) are not far behind. KU’s biggest doubleheader of the season will come on Tuesday when they play host to PSAC West contender Lock Haven. The Lady Eagles are ranked second in the nation and are 34-6 overall in 2008, including 15-1 in the West. The Golden Bears, meanwhile, enter the game 40-8 this season and are 10th in the nation. Check back this afternoon for a full doubleheader preview.

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