Softball Swept in Home Opener
ALTOONA, Pa. – The Penn State Altoona softball team hosted non-conference opponent Penn College on Sunday afternoon for a doubleheader, the Lions' first home games of the 2025 season at Stewart Athletic Field.
Penn State Altoona (7-7) dropped both ends of the doubleheader, as Penn College (12-7) pulled out a 4-3 win in extra innings in game one, then prevailed 9-2 in game two.
Game One: Penn College 4, Penn State Altoona 3 (Final/10 innings)
With the score knotted at 2-2 after seven innings, game one of Sunday's twinbill proceeded to extras. After a scoreless eighth, the teams traded runs in the ninth to move the contest into the 10th inning. But Penn College put one on the board in the top of the 10th, then held the Lions scored less in the bottom half to win by one.
Josselyn Nau (Bellefonte, PA/Bellefonte) was saddled with the loss for Penn State Altoona despite a strong start in the pitching circle, as the right-hander went all 10 innings and allowed only one earned run.
At the plate, Hanna Lauck (Bellefonte, PA/Bellefonte) went 3-for-5 with a double and an RBI, and Aubrey Dotts (Houtzdale, PA/Moshannon Valley) was 2-for-3 with an RBI. Karli Storm (Chest Springs, PA/Cambria Heights) finished 2-for-4 with a run scored, and Gianna Hoppel (Lewistown, PA/Mifflin County) was 2-for-5 with a double.
Penn College scored a run in the top of the first on a Lexi Snyder RBI single to second base, and the Wildcats took their lead into the third.
But Penn State Altoona jumped ahead in the bottom half of the third inning. Singles by Lauck and Storm put two runners aboard for the Lions, and with two outs later in the frame, an infield error and an RBI infield single from Dotts propelled Penn State Altoona into a 2-1 advantage.
Penn College evened the score at 2-2 in the top of the fourth, when Harley Kunes' RBI groundout to second tied things up.
The 2-2 score stood through the seventh, and the game advanced to extra innings.
Penn College had runners at second and third with one out in the top of the eighth, but Nau and the Lions got back-to-back groundouts to work out of the jam. The Wildcats responded with a hold in the bottom of the eighth, keeping Penn State Altoona off the scoreboard after advancing the potential go-ahead run to third with one out.
The Wildcats took the lead in the top of the ninth on a Ryleigh Rinker sacrifice fly to left. But Penn State Altoona answered with a big two-out hit to tie the game again in the bottom of the ninth, as Lauck's RBI double to right center with two away made it 3-3.
But Penn College had the last laugh in the 10th inning. The Wildcats went back in front, 4-3, on a Mackenzie Weaver RBI single up the middle, then held Penn State Altoona scoreless in the bottom half of the 10th to clinch the extra-innings victory.
Game Two: Penn College 9, Penn State Altoona 2
The Wildcats established an early lead in game two after getting three runs across in the top of the first. Penn State Altoona closed the gap to one, 3-2, in the fourth, but Penn College went on to pad its lead with six additional runs over the last three innings.
Lauck had a hit in the first inning to achieve her 100th career hit for Penn State Altoona. Alyssa Fisher (Lock Haven, PA/Central Mountain) was 2-for-3 with two RBI, and Allison Beeman (Tyrone, PA/Tyrone) also finished 2-for-3 with a run scored.
Madison Kennedy (Williamsburg, PA/Central) pitched the first three innings for the Lions and took the loss, surrendering two earned runs along the way. Sidney Nihart (Ashville, PA/Cambria Heights) tossed the next 3 1/3 innings, and Madalyn Maynard (Towanda, PA/Towanda) finished the game with a scoreless 2/3 inning.
Penn College grabbed a 3-0 lead in the top of the first, scoring on a Mackenzie Weaver infield hit to shortstop and a two-run single to center by Rinker.
Penn State Altoona got on the board in the bottom of the fourth, when the Lions narrowed the Wildcats' lead to one. Dotts led off the frame by reaching on an error, and Beeman's single to right put two aboard. Two outs later, Fisher came through with a two-RBI single to center, drawing the Lions nearer to Penn College's lead, 3-2.
The Wildcats got a run back in the fifth on Lexi Snyder's RBI groundout, and Penn College went on to score three in the sixth and two in the seventh to make it 9-2.
Next, Penn State Altoona softball hosts non-conference opponent Juniata College for a doubleheader this upcoming Tuesday, March 25, at 3 p.m.
