Huskies Win Two at PSAC Championships; Hutchinson Wins 1600th

BLOOMSBURG- The Bloomsburg University softball team won a pair of games at the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Championships on Friday. The Huskies defeated East Stroudsburg 3-2 in the early game and later beat California (PA) 3-0. With the win over East Stroudsburg, head coach Jan Hutchinson earned her 1600th career victory combined between softball and field hockey. Already, the winningest coach in NCAA history, Hutchinson adds to her record with another historic milestone.

Against East Stroudsburg, the Huskies took an early 2-0 advantage after the bottom of the second. With a runner on and nobody out, Alyssa English (Wallacetown/ Phillipsburg-Osceola) doubled home Stacy Krupiewski (Trooper/ Methacton) from first base for the first run of the game. Three batters late Jen Miller (Muir/ Williams Valley) singled home English to take 2-0 lead. However, the Warriors chipped away at the Huskies lead, adding a run in the fourth and fifth inning to tie the game at 2-2. In the bottom of the seventh, the Huskies put runners on second and third with one out. On the next play, Casey Massimini beat a throw home on a ground ball to short to score the winning run and give Hutchinson her 1,600th victory. Ashley Lynn (Riverside/ Danville) earned the win in relief, going 2.1 innings, allowing one hit and striking out two while not allowing a run. Lynn has now thrown 54 consecutive innings with allowing an earned run.

In the win over Cal, Tara Reed (Williamsport/ Williamsport) tossed a complete game, allowing just six hits and striking out six to lead the Huskies. The Huskies picked up a run in the third on an RBI single by Jess Rosin (Brookyn, NY/ James Madison) and then added two more in the fifth when a fielding error by the Vulcans second baseman brought two runs to the plate. Nikki Shiko (Kulpmont/ Southern Columbia) went 2-3 with a run scored and Rosin was 1-2 with an RBI and a walk to lead Bloomsburg offensively.

With the win the Huskies improve to 35-12 on the year. The Huskies will now face Lock Haven tomorrow at 11 a.m., with the winner advancing to the championship game against Kutztown. In order to win the championship, the Huskies will need to defeat defending champion Lock Haven and then take two games from Kutztown.