Softball Improves to 4-0 in AMCC with Friday Sweep
HOUGHTON, N.Y. – Penn State Altoona softball played its first Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference road games of the season on Friday, when the Lions traveled to face league opponent Alfred State College in a doubleheader at Houghton University.
Penn State Altoona (15-8, 4-0 AMCC) won game one in five innings by a score of 10-0, then rallied past Alfred State (2-12, 0-4 AMCC) for a 6-5 win in extra innings in game two.
Game One: Penn State Altoona 10, Alfred State 0 (Final/5 innings)
The Lions scored 10 runs on 11 hits in five innings, beating Alfred State in a run rule-shortened game one.
Alyssa Fisher (Lock Haven, PA/Central Mountain) finished a home run shy of the cycle, going 3-for-4 with a double, a triple, three RBI, two runs scored, and a stolen base. Karli Storm (Chest Springs, PA/Cambria Heights) was 2-for-2 with an RBI, a run scored, and a walk.
Josselyn Nau (Bellefonte, PA/Bellefonte) pitched a complete game shutout for her eighth win of the season, going all five innings and giving up just three hits and a walk to go along with four strikeouts.
After a scoreless first inning, Penn State Altoona got five runs in during the top of the second. Back-to-back RBI singles to right by Madison Kennedy (Williamsburg, PA/Central) and Madison Sitarek (Huddleston, VA/Century) preceded a two-run double to left center from Fisher that made it 4-0. One batter later, Gianna Hoppel's (Lewistown, PA/Mifflin County) groundout drove in Sitarek to give the Lions a five-run advantage.
The Lions added four runs to their total in the fourth. Fisher's RBI single through the left side of the infield brought in one run, and she later stole home on a double steal to make it 7-0. Later in the frame, Storm's RBI single to down the left-field line got another run home, and a two-out error by Alfred State allowed Hanna Lauck (Bellefonte, PA/Bellefonte) to score from third, giving Penn State Altoona a 9-0 lead.
Hoppel's two-out RBI single up the middle in the top of the fifth increased Penn State Altoona's lead to 10-0, and Alfred State went down in order in the bottom of the fifth to ensure a run rule win for the Lions.
Game Two: Penn State Altoona 6, Alfred State 5 (Final/8 innings)
Penn State Altoona trailed 5-4 heading into the seventh, but the Lions tied the score and sent the game into extra innings. Penn State Altoona completed its comeback by going up 6-5 in the top of the eighth and holding the lead to deal Alfred State the loss.
Fisher had another three-hit game, going 3-for-4 with two doubles, two RBI, two runs scored, and a stolen base.
In the circle, Kennedy got the start and finished with a no decision, pitching 3 1/3 innings and yielding only two earned runs while striking out three batters. Sidney Nihart (Ashville, PA/Cambria Heights) pitched 2 2/3 scoreless innings in relief with three strikeouts, and Nau finished the game with two scoreless innings with three strikeouts to pick up her ninth victory of the season.
Alfred State scored its first run of the day in the bottom of the first on a Caley Larsen RBI single to center. But Penn State Altoona got four runs home in the top of the second, thanks to Fisher's two-run single to right center and a Pioneers outfield error that allowed Fisher and Meghan Flynn (Sayre, PA/Sayre) to both score.
The Pioneers struck back with a four-run bottom of the fourth inning to jump ahead. An infield error allowed Abby Beidel to score, before Larsen's bases-clearing double put Alfred State on top, 5-4.
After leaving the potential tying run in scoring position in the fifth and sixth innings, Penn State Altoona finally capitalized in the top of the seventh. Fisher doubled to left with one out, and with two down, Hoppel's RBI double to center knotted the score at 5-5. The Lions retired Alfred State in order in the bottom of the seventh, and the game proceeded to extra innings.
Penn State Altoona started the top of the eighth with Lauck at second, and Storm put down a sacrifice bunt to advance her to third. The next batter, Allison Beeman (Tyrone, PA/Tyrone) brought Lauck home with a groundout to shortstop, and the Lions took a 6-5 advantage into the bottom half of the inning.
Alfred State went down in order in the bottom of the eighth, and Penn State Altoona sealed another doubleheader sweep to improve its AMCC record to 4-0.
Next up, Penn State Altoona softball returns home to take on AMCC opponent Carlow University in a doubleheader on Tuesday, April 8, at 3 p.m.
