•
Box Score
CALIFORNIA (May 16) – Sophomore left fielder
Kristen McKenzie (Senneville, Quebec/St. Thomas) belted a three-run homer in the fourth to lead the No. 13 Vulcans to a 3-2 victory on Saturday afternoon at Lilly Field against Kutztown to advance to next weekend's best-of-three NCAA Atlantic Super Regional.
With the victory, the California University of Pennsylvania softball team improves to 37-12 overall this season to mark the most wins since the 2000 season. The Vulcans will continue their post-season next weekend when it plays in the NCAA Super Regional for the first time since the round was created prior to last year. The best-of-three weekend series will be played at No. 6 Bloomsburg. Meanwhile, Kutztown finishes the season with a 43-18 overall record to mark the fourth-straight year with at least 40 victories.
After two scoreless innings, the Golden Bears took a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the third on four singles and a fielding error. Kutztown started the rally with a one-out single before Cal U committed a fielding error on a sacrifice bunt that moved two runners into scoring position. Golden Bears' center fielder Maria Schiavo followed with a RBI single before catcher Katie Lynch followed with a two-out, RBI single.
The Vulcans countered answered back with their three runs in the top of the fourth to take a 3-2 lead. Sophomore catcher
Alyson Johnson (Waynesburg, Pa./Waynesburg Central) led off the inning with a single and advanced to second on a groundout before moving to third on a single by junior right fielder
Amanda Wallace (Oakmont, Pa./Penn Hills). With runners on the corners and one out, McKenzie belted a three-run homer (first of the season) down the left-field line.
In the fifth, Kutztown threatened to tie the game in the fifth after Schiavo reached base to start the inning with a single. She moved to second on a sacrifice bunt before junior
Maria Greco (Pickering, Ontario/Notre Dame Catholic) registered a strikeout for the second out of the inning. The Golden Bears then had runners on the corners before Greco induced a groundout to end the frame.
Greco (16-7) earned her fifth victory of the post-season after allowing two runs (both earned) on seven hits on Sunday. She also registered seven strikeouts and issued no walks while tossing her 15th complete game of the season (32nd of her career).
Golden Bears' starter Kaitlin Arbogast (26-12) suffered the loss after yielding three runs (all earned) on seven hits in only 3.2 innings of work.
Wallace posted her team-best 17th multi-hit game of the season, finishing 2-for-3 with one run scored. McKenzie hit her first career homer against Kutztown, while junior third baseman
Danielle Easton (Hanover, Pa./South Western) reached base three times.
Cal U travels to face Bloomsburg in the NCAA Atlantic Super Regional next weekend from May 20-21 at Jan Hutchinson Field. The Huskies swept both meetings against the Vulcans recently while playing in the PSAC Championships, winning the two games by a combined three runs (3-2, 7-5).
