The Kutztown softball team allowed four unearned runs and lost to West Chester 6-3 Monday in the deciding game of a best-of-three Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference semifinal series at North Campus Field.
The Golden Rams (29-14) advanced to the championship series and will play Gannon or Seton Hill.
The Golden Bears (32-13) will host the NCAA Division II Atlantic Region tournament beginning May 19. The six-team field will be announced Sunday.
Kutztown beat West Chester 10-2 in Game 2 earlier Monday to force Game 3. The Bears tied a season high for hits with 17.
Sarah Harvey was 3-for-4 with a home run and two RBIs for Kutztown, Kate Ostaszewski was 2-for-4 with a home run and scored twice, Amber Brugger pitched a six-hitter and was 2-for-4 with a double, Alyssa Donato was 3-for-4 with three RBIs and Hannah Auvil was 3-for-4 with an RBI and scored three runs.
Kutztown High grad Courtney Stump went 2-for-3 for West Chester.
Stump went 2-for-4 with an RBI in Game 3 for West Chester, which took a 3-2 lead in the second inning and didn’t trail again.
Jenna Lipowski went 3-for-4 with a home run, double and two RBIs for Kutztown, Ostaszewski was 2-for-4 with two doubles and scored a run and Brianna Hughes was 2-for-4 with an RBI and scored once.
Golf
Fioravante to compete in Division III Tournament >> Berks Catholic grad Nick Fioravante, a sophomore at York College, will compete with the Spartans in the NCAA Division III Tournament, which runs Tuesday through Friday at Oglebay Resort in Wheeling, W.Va.
York qualified by winning the MAC Commonwealth championship last month.
Fioravante tied for fourth at the conference championships to earn All-MAC honors.
Lacrosse
West Chester is top seed >> The West Chester women’s lacrosse team has earned the top seed and a first-round bye in the Atlantic Regional of the NCAA Division II Tournament.
The Golden Rams (13-0), who won the PSAC title and are ranked fourth in the nation, are led by Wilson grad Molly Reinhart, an all-conference defender. Also key contributors are Gov. Mifflin grads Hannah Stanislawczyk and Claire Dennis, and Exeter grad Lexi Einsig.
West Chester will play the winner of the first-round game between second-seeded Seton Hill and third-seeded East Stroudsburg in Sunday’s regional final.
Track and field
Alvernia’s Pirollo honored >> Alvernia senior Susanna Pirollo has been named MAC Women’s Field Athlete of the Year for her performance at the conference championships.
She earned All-MAC first-team honors in the heptathlon and 400-meter hurdles and second-team honors in the high jump.
She won the heptathlon with a meet-record 4,558 points and the 400 hurdles in 1:04.31. She finished second in the high jump in 5-1. In addition, she finished seventh in the javelin and ran on the sixth-place 1600 relay team.
