Box Scores
L 4-3 / L 5-0

KUTZTOWN – Kutztown rallied for a 4-3 win in the opener and Samantha Derr threw a complete game five-hitter in a 5-0 victory in the second game as the No. 19 Golden Bears took a PSAC East softball doubleheader over East Stroudsburg University on Saturday afternoon.

Senior Caitlin Monahan had a career-high 11 strikeouts and held Kutztown (25-6, 4-2) to one run through the first five innings of the first game, but Nicole Henninger hit a solo homer in the sixth and the Golden Bears struck for two runs in the seventh for the walk-off win.

Monahan struck out the first two batters in the seventh, but leadoff hitter Meghan Brown reached on a wild pitch and Kutztown capitalized. Brown stole second and scored on the game-tying RBI double by Jackie Hetzler, and Nicole Colineri followed by a single to score Hetzler from second and give the Golden Bears the win.

In the second game, Kutztown scored two runs in the first inning and three in the third to provide the offense for Derr, who struck out nine and walked two to improve to 9-2 on the season with seven shutouts. Derr was also the winning pitcher in the first game, throwing 4.2 scoreless innings in relief, and had 14 strikeouts, two walks and eight hits allowed in 11.2 innings on the afternoon.

In the opener, ESU (9-14, 0-4) scored all three of its runs in the third inning to nearly pull off the upset. Kutztown took a 1-0 lead in the first inning before the Warriors loaded the bases with one out in the third as senior OF Jamie Mingis walked, freshman SS Rebecca Smith singled and junior C Alex Schubert walked to bring up senior OF Alicea Ashe.

Kutztown brought in Derr to relieve starter Monica Glomb, and Ashe greeted her with a two-run single to give the Warriors a 2-1 lead. After Derr got the second out of the inning, junior 2B Brandi Stettler singled to plate Schubert and put ESU ahead 3-1.

Derr retired 12 of the last 13 batters she faced, allowing only a two-out single to senior OF Julia Collins in the sixth, to keep the margin at 3-1 before the Golden Bears came back.

Three Warriors had two hits on the day in Ashe, Stettler and senior C Samantha Capriotti and five other players had a hit each.

In the circle, freshman Laura Suits had a strong outing in relief in the second game, blanking Kutztown over 3.1 innings and allowing two hits. Freshman Amanda McKay (2.2 IP) took the loss.

Kutztown had 16 hits on the day led by Henninger, who was 4-for-6 with two doubles, a home run and three RBI. Krista Tedjeske was 3-for-6 with three RBI and Hetzler was 3-for-7 with three runs scored.

ESU has dropped its last seven games after a 9-7 start and finishes the first half of the PSAC East schedule next week. The Warriors travel to Shippensburg on Wednesday and Millersville on Friday before hosting Lock Haven for a non-conference doubleheader in their home opener on Saturday.