Kutztown 4, California 3
Nicole Henniger scored all the way from first on a throwing error by California pitcher Kaitlyn Schilling to give Kutztown a 4-3 victory and a berth in the championship game of the Division II Atlantic Region I pod.
Kutztown (41-15) will face host and top-seed IUP (35-6) in the championship game, which is scheduled for Sunday afternoon but will likely be played Monday at 10 a.m. due to heavy rain in the Indiana area. Should the Golden Bears win that game, a deciding seventh game follows.
With the game tied at 3, Henniger reached on an error by Vulcan shortstop Jillian Russell to lead off the bottom of the seventh. Katie Lynch laid down a sacrifice bunt and Schilling threw wildly to first and by the time rightfielder Paige Onuska was able to get the ball back to the infield, Henniger rounded the bases with the winning run.
The run made a winner of Sam Derr, who earned her 21st victory of the season against nine losses. Derr allowed four hits and one earned run, walked one and struck out three. Schilling (10-7) relieved starter Hope Spancake in the third and surrendered just one hit and the unearned run in four innings.
California, which finished its season with a record of 29-14, had tied it in the top of the sixth when Shelby Lia drove a long two-run homer over the fence in left center for her seventh round tripper of the season.
The Golden Bears jumped out to a 3-0 lead against Spancake in the bottom of the second. Krista Tedjeske led off with a double and pinch runner Nicole Colineri scored on a single by Morgan Booth.
Jackie Hetzler made it 2-0 when her bunt single drove in Booth, and Hetzler later stole third and scored when Vulcan catcher Natalie Wideman threw the ball into leftfield.
The Vulcans, who stayed alive in the tournament with a 3-0 win earlier Sunday over Winston-Salem State, got their first run in the top of the third when Wideman singled in Onuska.
