GOWANDA, N.Y. – The Penn State Altoona softball team played its final Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference regular season games on Saturday afternoon, defeating Hilbert College in a doubleheader at Gowanda High School.

The Lions (9-10-1, 8-8 AMCC) evened their AMCC record at 8-8 this season by breaking out the broomsticks in Saturday's doubleheader, winning 7-2 over Hilbert (1-15, 1-13 AMCC) in game one and 10-0 in a run-rule-shortened game two.

Game One: Penn State Altoona 7, Hilbert 2

The Lions got four runs across in the top of the first to set the tone, and the team rode that lead for the rest of the game to earn the victory.

Casey Reese (Cresson, PA/Penn Cambria) pitched a complete game to record her eighth win of the season in the circle. In seven innings, she allowed only two runs on five hits and five walks while striking out five batters.

Makenzie Lukehart (Utahville, PA/Glendale) was 2-for-3 with one run batted in and one run scored. Olivia Miller (West Newton, PA/Yough) was 2-for-4 with two RBI, a run scored, and a stolen base.

Katie College (Davidsville, PA/Conemaugh Township) finished 1-for-2 with two RBI, and Reese was 1-for-3 with the bat with two runs scored, one RBI, and one stolen base. Jayde Burge (Philipsburg, PA/Philipsburg-Osceola) went 1-for-3 with a run scored.

Kristen Hewitt (Coalport, PA/Glendale) walked twice, scored one run, and stole one base. Madison Lucas (Philipsburg, PA/Philipsburg-Osceola) tallied one RBI.

Penn State Altoona jumped out to a 4-0 lead by the end of the top half of the first inning. After Hewitt walked and Lukehart singled, Miller's single to left drove both runners in for the visitors' first runs. Later in the frame, Lucas' sacrifice fly and College's two-out RBI single extended the Lions' advantage to 4-0.

Penn State Altoona made it 5-0 in the fifth, when Burge led off the inning with a double and later scored on Lukehart's sac fly. The Lions picked up two more runs in the sixth, when Olivia Smith (Martinsburg, PA/Central) scored on an error and College contributed a sac fly.

Hilbert got on the scoreboard in the bottom of the sixth, when Leandrea Cruz drew a bases-loaded walk and Makenna Smith hit an RBI single. But Reese and the Lions limited the damage in the inning, and the Hawks stranded three runners on base to end the frame.

Penn State Altoona yielded no further scoring opportunities for the Hawks, closing out the five-run win in game one.

Game Two: Penn State Altoona 10, Hilbert 0 (Final/5 innings)

The Lions totaled 10 runs over the game's first three innings, and the team held its advantage to end the game via the run rule after five complete.

Lukehart earned her first win of the season in the circle, pitching a complete game shutout. In five innings of work, she held Hilbert to four hits and four walks while recording two strikeouts.

Miller collected three of her team's 12 hits, going 3-for-4 at the plate with a double and three runs scored. Smith was 2-for-4 with a triple, four RBI, and one run scored. College went 2-for-2 with two RBI, a run scored, and a walk, and Hannah Harlacher (York, PA/West York) batted 2-for-3.

Shannon Detwiler (Martinsburg, PA/Central) went 1-for-3 with two RBI, and Burge was 1-for-3 with a double, a run scored, and a stolen base. Lukehart also hit 1-for-3 with a walk and two runs scored, and Hewitt walked twice more while scoring two runs and swiping a base.

The Lions established another early lead in game two, scoring three runs in the top of the first. Hewitt led off with a walk and stole home for her team's first run, and Detwiler's two-run single to right later in the inning made it 3-0.

Penn State Altoona increased its lead to 7-0 with a four-run second inning. Burge started things off with a double, and she later scored on a steal of home. Smith's RBI single to right and College's two-run base hit to center gave the Lions' a seven-run cushion.

Smith's three-run triple to left in the third put Penn State Altoona's lead at 10-0, and the Lions preserved their lead through the end of the fifth to earn the run-rule win and the clinch the doubleheader sweep.

Penn State Altoona softball will finish its regular season on the road next Friday, May 7, traveling to Pittsburgh to face non-conference opponent Carnegie Mellon University in a doubleheader starting at 3:00 p.m.