Box Score

KUTZTOWN - Jess Schmoyer drove in the game-winning run with a single that scored Missy McAloon from second and gave East Stroudsburg University an 11-10 victory over Kutztown in the NCAA Division II Softball Mid-Atlantic Regional on Saturday morning at North Campus Field.

The Warriors trailed 10-9 going into their final at bat as Adriane Willmer hit a two-out, two-run homer for Kutztown in the top of the seventh to extend the game. Kara Darcey singled to start the bottom half for ESU and was replaced by pinch runner Briana Malachowski, who scored on a double to right-center by McAloon. The Golden Bears elected to intentionally walk ESU All-Region shortstop Jen Veronesi for the second time in the game, and Schmoyer, a Kutztown native, followed with the game-winning single to center that knocked the No. 2 seed (and her hometown team) out of the tournament.

The final two innings saw the lead change hands in each half inning. Ashley Fitzgerald gave Kutztown an 8-6 advantage with a two-out, two-run home run in the top of the sixth, but the momentum was short lived as Veronesi lined a double to left to open the Warriors' half of the inning. Schmoyer walked, Eliza Morosco laid down a sacrifice bunt and Shannon Dietrich reached on an infield single to load the bases. Candice Pastor cleared them with a three-run double to right-center that gave ESU a 9-8 lead.

Kutztown opened the scoring with a run in the top of the first, but Dietrich (4-for-4) forced the first of three ties in the game with a single that scored Veronesi (2-for-2, 3 walks).

Schmoyer figured significantly into the Warriors' four-run second, as she drove a two RBI single up the middle with two outs and later scored after the Golden Bears botched a rundown. Darcey scored the first run of the inning on a wild pitch as Kutztown attempted to intentionally walk Veronesi with first base open.

Kutztown answered with four runs to tie the score at 5-5 in the top of the third on a two-run double by Krista Cameron and a two-run single by Lindsay Bennett. The Golden Bears took their second lead of the game with an unearned run in the fourth before the Warriors forged a 6-6 tie in the bottom of the inning with a single by Dietrich that plated McAloon.

The fifth inning was the only frame that didn't feature any scoring, but was the prelude to the final two innings when a total of nine runs were scored - four by Kutztown, and five by ESU.

Both teams sent three pitchers to the circle, with Chrissy Wontroba (ESU) and Rachel Widensaul (KU) getting the starting assignments. Jennifer Bensinger relieved Wontroba in the fourth and Kristen Halvorsen pitched the seventh for the Warriors. Steph Denlinger, the PSAC leader with 24 home runs, threw the final 3.1 innings for Kutztown and allowed nine hits and five runs.

Schmoyer is 5-for-8 at the plate in the Warriors' first three games of the Regional, with six runs batted in, two walks and two sacrifice bunts. Veronesi pushed her school record for career runs scored total to 129 after scoring three times, broke a tie for second with her 33rd career double, and enters Saturday afternoon's game with 199 career hits.

The Warriors will face the winner of the 11:30 a.m. game between No. 5 Shippensburg and No. 7 Edinboro in the final game of the day at 4:30 p.m. The winner of that game will join Lock Haven (2-0) and Bloomsburg (2-0) in Sunday's championship round. The Lady Eagles and the Huskies will face each other this afternoon at 2 p.m.