NORTH MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. – The Penn State Altoona softball team recorded its first sweep of the week in the Fastpitch Dreams Spring Classic, when the Lions defeated Centenary University and King's College on Wednesday at the Central Park Complex.

Penn State Altoona (4-4) came back from an early deficit in its first game to defeat Centenary 5-2, then took care of King's (1-3) by a 4-2 score in the second contest.

Game One: Penn State Altoona 5, Centenary 2

Penn State Altoona was limited to just three hits against Centenary (0-4), but the Lions did enough to earn a three-run victory over the Cyclones.

Hanna Lauck (Bellefonte, PA/Bellefonte) was 1-for-2 with a double and three RBI. Lauren Davidson (Clearfield, PA/DuBois Central Catholic) had a hit and two runs scored, and Madison Kennedy (Williamsburg, PA/Central) had a hit and a run scored. Aubrey Dotts (Houtzdale, PA/Moshannon Valley) also had an RBI.

Kennedy made the start in the pitching circle and secured her first collegiate win, going five innings, allowing five hits, one earned run, and one walk, and recording one strikeout. Sidney Nihart (Ashville, PA/Cambria Heights) notched her first collegiate save, finishing the game with two scoreless, one-hit innings.

Centenary took a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first when Madison Passanante drove in a run with her double, then scored on an error to give the Cyclones a two-run advantage.

Penn State Altoona plated a run in the top of the second to cut its deficit in half, when Dotts reached on an error that allowed Kennedy to score, making it 2-1.

The Lions jumped ahead in the top of the third. Alyssa Fisher (Lock Haven, PA/Central Mountain) drew a leadoff walk, then scored on an error in the next at-bat. One batter later, Lauck's sacrifice fly to left put Penn State Altoona on top, 3-2.

The Lions padded their lead in the fifth. With one out, after a Davidson single and Gianna Hoppel (Lewistown, PA/Mifflin County) was hit by a pitch, Lauck doubled to left to drive in both runners, increasing Penn State Altoona's lead to 5-2.

The Lions held Centenary off the scoreboard the rest of the way, including forcing the Cyclones to leave the bases loaded in the bottom of the sixth, to secure victory.

Game Two: Penn State Altoona 4, King's 2

Penn State Altoona posted a more well-rounded win in its second game of the day, when it defeated King's (1-3) by a score of 4-2. The Lions totaled 11 hits while holding the Monarchs to just three.

Dotts went 2-for-2 with an RBI and a run scored, Hoppel was 2-for-3 with a double, an RBI, and a run, and Fisher finished 2-for-4 with a run.

Josselyn Nau (Bellefonte, PA/Bellefonte) tossed another complete game for Penn State Altoona, going all seven innings, yielding only three hits, two runs, and a walk, and striking out five batters to pick up her third win of the season.

Penn State Altoona got on the board first in the top of the second. Karli Storm (Chest Springs, PA/Cambria Heights) led off with a base hit to right, before Kennedy and Madalyn Maynard (Towanda, PA/Towanda) followed with singles to load the bases. Dotts kept the hit streak going, singled to left to drive in Storm and make it 1-0.

The Lions increased their lead to 2-0 in the top of the third. Hoppel led off with a double to center, and she scored on Lauck's RBI single to right to give Penn State Altoona a two-run lead.

King's got on the scoreboard in the bottom half of the third, thanks to a Kara Krouse RBI single that cut the Penn State Altoona advantage to 2-1.

Penn State Altoona added two more to its run total in the fourth. Singles from Dotts and Fisher put two runners aboard for the Lions, and both scored on a Davidson RBI single to center and Hoppel sacrifice fly to center.

The Monarchs picked up a run in the sixth, when a run-scoring hit from Cadee Munjone trimmed the Penn State Altoona lead to 4-2. But Nau and the Lions got a double play to end the sixth, then retired King's in order in the seventh to seal a two-run victory.

Next up, Penn State Altoona faces William Peace University at 11 a.m. and Fairleigh Dickinson University-Florham at 1 p.m. tomorrow, Thursday, March 13, in more Fastpitch Dreams Spring Classic action. Both games are slated to happen on field #2 of the Central Park Complex.