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The sixth ranked Husky softball team split a pair of games with Kutztown University on Saturday, snapping their 22-game winning streak. Bloomsburg pulled out a 2-1 win in the opener and dropped the later game with a final score of 7-3.
Game one started with the Huskies tacking one on the board in the second inning. Emily Young reached base on an error and Mandy Koch walked putting runners on first and second. After a strikeout, Casey Massimini bunted the runners over to second and third. Nikki Shiko then singled home Young for a 1-0 lead.
The score remained the same until the fifth inning, when Bloomsburg tacked on another run. Massimini singled and Shiko walked putting two on with no outs. After a bunt moved the runners over, Lacy Mauro had a bunt single, scoring Massimini with the second run. Kutztown got out of the inning by retiring the next two batters.
Shavaun Fisher took the win in game one, striking out eight and earning her impressive 23rd win of the season. Shiko went 2-2 with an RBI.
Game two showed a different offense from Kutztown, taking a 2-0 lead in the top of the first inning. Bloomsburg got one back in the bottom of the first when Danielle Lazorka tripled and scored on a Mauro sacrifice fly. The Golden Bears repeated their effort and scored two more in the top of the second to go up 4-1. In true Husky fashion, Bloomsburg came back with one more in the home half of the second when Young reached on catcher's interference and later scored on a Shen Debaro single.
Kutztown scored a run in the fifth, sixth and seventh innings before the Huskies got an RBI double from Mauro to make the final, 7-3.
Said Shiko of the loss, "Losing is never fun and never feels good. Nobody ever wants to lose, but like Coach says, it is learning from our losses that makes a team better and sometimes you learn more from a loss, than what you can from a win". She continues, "It definitely sucks losing a game, especially to a team that is one of our rivals, but we will get to see them in playoffs this weekend, so hopefully we have learned from our loss and are able to apply that to playoffs".
The 2010 PSAC Softball Tournament will kick off here at Bloomsburg University this Friday, April 23rd. The Tournament follows a double-elimination format. Game one will be West Division Edinboro against the East Division Kutztown at 11:00 a.m. The loser of that game goes on to play Central Division Champion Bloomsburg at 1:00 p.m. Game three will consist of Bloomsburg against the winner of game one at 3:00 p.m.
If all three teams remain after Day One, lots will be drawn to determine which teams play in Game Four and which is byed to Game Five. If two teams remain after Day One, the two teams will play one or two games to determine the champion, depending on the need of double-elimination format.
Shiko commented on the Huskies anticipation of the playoff's stating, "I don't think that just being solid in offense and defense will get any team through the playoffs. Playoffs are intense and anybody can beat anyone. Being on top throughout the season in our division has definitely been great, but that makes other teams want to beat us and play harder against us even more". She continues, "We have to bring our best game, every game, regardless of what happened when we played a team during the regular season. We have to have confidence and endurance and be able to do what we have been doing all year long, but even more so, when it comes to playoffs".
After the split this weekend, Bloomsburg is now 38-4, while Kutztown goes to 34-13. The scheduled double headers against Holy Family, IUP and Dominican were all cancelled. This is the second time the Holy Family match up has been moved, as it was originally scheduled for April 1.
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