Softball Splits Monday Action in The Spring Games
LEESBURG, Fla. – Penn State Altoona softball continued its week in The Spring Games on Monday at the Sleepy Hollow Sports Complex, where the Lady Lions recorded their first win of the season and also took a loss.
Penn State Altoona (1-4) picked up its first win of the season in its first game of the day, defeating Gordon College 6-4. In game two, the Lady Lions suffered an 8-0 loss to Nebraska Wesleyan University in five innings.
"Good to get our first win, but we really need to still clean a lot of little things up. We will get back at it and continue to improve," said Penn State Altoona head coach Joe Merilli. "We are playing a tough schedule in Florida this year to get us ready for the conference season, and we are progressing."
Game One: Penn State Altoona 6, Gordon 4
The Lady Lions grabbed an early lead, then hung on to defeat Gordon (0-5) and record their first victory of the Florida trip and of the season overall.
Jenna Myers (Garnet Valley, PA/Garnet Valley) went 2-for-2 with a double, two runs scored, and a walk. Brooke Colledge (Everett, PA/Everett) also had a two-hit game, going 2-for-3 with a double, a run scored, and one run batted in.
Kristen Hewitt (Coalport, PA/Glendale) went 1-for-3 with two RBI, a run scored, a walk, and a stolen base. Madison Lucas (Philipsburg, PA/Philipsburg-Osceola) was 1-for-3 with an RBI and a run scored.
Jayde Burge (Philipsburg, PA/Philipsburg-Osceola) tossed a complete game to pick up her first win of the season in the circle. The right-hander pitched seven innings, limiting Gordon to three earned runs.
Penn State Altoona plated the game's first runs in the bottom of the second inning. With the bases loaded, Lucas delivered a run-scoring single up the middle to put her team on the board. One batter later, Hewitt drew a bases-loaded walk to make it 2-0.
The Lady Lions got four runs across in the fourth to extend their lead to 6-0. Hewitt's RBI single through the left side plated one run, and an infield error allowed Lucas and Hewitt to both score on the next play. Later, Colledge's RBI double gave her team a six-run lead.
Gordon got on the scoreboard in the top of the fifth on a two-run home run by Arianna Ramsaran. The Scots cut Penn State Altoona's lead to two over the next two innings, using an RBI single from Mara Little in the sixth and run-scoring base hit by Kristen Brown in the seventh to trim the Lady Lions' advantage to 6-4.
But with the tying run aboard and just one out in the seventh, Penn State Altoona got a flyout and a strikeout to end the game and seal the win.
Game Two: Nebraska Wesleyan 8, Penn State Altoona 0 (Final/5 innings)
Penn State Altoona hung with Nebraska Wesleyan early, until the Prairie Wolves scored two in the third, four in the fourth, and two in the fifth to earn a run-rule-shortened victory.
Makenzie Lukehart (Utahville, PA/Glendale) and Abby Showers (Philipsburg, PA/Philipsburg-Osecola) had the Lady Lions' only two hits of the game, with each of them hitting a double.
Lukehart started in the circle for the second time this season and was saddled with the loss. In 4 2/3 innings pitched, she yielded eight runs and struck out four batters.
Nebraska Wesleyan broke a scoreless tie in the bottom of the third inning, when Taylor Styskal's two-run double to left-center put her team on the board. The Prairie Wolves used the long ball to add four more runs to their total in the fourth, getting a solo home run to left-center by Rachel Mundt and a three-run shot to center from Emma Alfieri.
Mollie Grant's two-run single in the sixth tacked two more runs on for Nebraska Wesleyan and ended the game via the run-rule.
Penn State Altoona softball returns to action tomorrow, Tuesday, March 10 at Sleepy Hollow Sports Complex. The Lady Lions will face Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute at 11:30 a.m. before taking on the University of Dubuque at 1:45 p.m.
