Senior Day Split for Softball
ALTOONA, Pa. – The Penn State Altoona softball team hosted Senior Day on Sunday afternoon at Stewart Athletic Field, where the Lions split a doubleheader with Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference opponent Pitt-Bradford.
Penn State Altoona (17-9, 7-1 AMCC) staged a late rally in game one to win it 4-3 on a walk-off. Pitt-Bradford (7-17, 3-3 AMCC) quieted the Lions in game two and pulled out a 3-1 victory.
Between games, Penn State Altoona recognized its three seniors: infielders Alyssa Fisher (Lock Haven, PA/Central Mountain), Gianna Hoppel (Lewistown, PA/Mifflin County), and Hanna Lauck (Bellefonte, PA/Bellefonte).
Game One: Penn State Altoona 4, Pitt-Bradford 3
The Panthers clung to a 3-2 lead going into the sixth, but Penn State Altoona tied the score in the bottom of the sixth, then won the game with a run in the bottom of the seventh.
Josselyn Nau (Bellefonte, PA/Bellefonte) pitched a complete game and recorded her 11th win of the season, yielding three runs in seven innings and striking out three Pitt-Bradford batters.
Fisher went 1-for-3 with a double, an RBI, and a run scored, and Hoppel had a hit and a walk. Karli Storm (Chest Springs, PA/Cambria Heights) finished with a hit, a run, and a walk, and Madison Sitarek (Huddleston, VA/Century) and Jillian Taylor (Irvona, PA/Glendale) each had a hit and an RBI.
In a scoreless game in the bottom of the second, the Lions loaded the bases with one out. Sitarek came through with an RBI single through the right side to put Penn State Altoona on the board, and Fisher's sacrifice fly to center made it 2-0.
Pitt-Bradford trimmed its deficit in half in the top of the fourth on a Ciera Adams RBI single to center, and Krislyn Clement's two-run single in the fifth gave the visitors a 3-2 advantage.
Penn State Altoona tied the game in the bottom of the sixth, when Madalyn Maynard (Towanda, PA/Towanda) drew a one-out walk and later scored on Taylor's two-out RBI single to right center.
The Lions completed their comeback in the bottom of the seventh. Fisher started the frame by doubling to left center, and Lauren Davidson (Clearfield, PA/DuBois Central Catholic) advanced her with a sac bunt. A throwing error on the play allowed Fisher to score, and Penn State Altoona walked off game one as the winner.
Game Two: Pitt-Bradford 3, Penn State Altoona 1
The Panthers did enough to get past the Lions in game two of the doubleheader. Pitt-Bradford scored two runs in the top of the first, added a third in the top of the fifth, and limited Penn State Altoona to just one run across seven innings.
Madison Kennedy (Williamsburg, PA/Central) tossed a complete game in the pitching circle in the loss. In seven innings, she held the Panthers to four hits, three runs, and two walks while recording two strikeouts.
Storm went 2-for-3 to lead the Lion bats. Fisher had a hit and an RBI, and Allison Beeman (Tyrone, PA/Tyrone) had a hit and a run scored. Davidson, Kennedy, and Haleigh Peters (Lock Haven, PA/Central Mountain) also had one hit apiece.
Sacrifice flies from Sara Stroup and Kalie Dixon gave Pitt-Bradford a 2-0 lead in the top of the first inning. Miranda Groll's RBI base hit in the top of the fifth made it 3-0.
Penn State Altoona loaded the bases with two outs in the bottom of the fifth, and Fisher's RBI single to left put the Lions on the board, 3-1. But the home team was unable to cash in further, and Pitt-Bradford escaped the frame with a two-run lead.
Penn State Altoona managed just one base runner the rest of the way, and Pitt-Bradford handed the Lions their first conference loss of the season.
Softball gets back to action this upcoming Wednesday, April 16, traveling to Greensburg, Pa., to take on AMCC opponent Pitt-Greensburg in a doubleheader starting at 3 p.m.
