Softball Falls 5-2 to Behrend in AMCC Title Game
ERIE, Pa. – The Penn State Altoona softball team's postseason run came to an end on Sunday, when the Lions suffered a 5-2 loss to Penn State Behrend in the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference Championship at Behrend Field.
With the score tied 2-2 after three innings, top-seeded Behrend (23-13) pulled away by scoring a combined three runs in the fourth and fifth innings. Behrend will now advance to the NCAA Division III Tournament.
Meanwhile, Penn State Altoona (20-13) sees its 2022 season come to an end. The Lions found a path to the AMCC Championship game after victories over Mount Aloysius College on Friday and Medaille College on Saturday, but the Lions were unable to get past Behrend for the conference title.
Named to the AMCC All-Tournament team for Penn State Altoona at the conclusion of Sunday's contest were Brooke Boonie (Petersburg, PA/Juniata Valley), Cameryn Feathers (Martinsburg, PA/Central), and Casey Reese (Cresson, PA/Penn Cambria).
Reese started Sunday's game in the circle and took the loss for the Lions in a complete game effort, yielding five runs over six innings.
Gianna Hoppel (Lewistown, PA/Mifflin County) was 1-for-3 with a double and a run scored, and Alyssa Fisher (Lock Haven, PA/Central Mountain) was also 1-for-3 with a run scored. Jayde Burge (Philipsburg, PA/Philipsburg-Osceola) and Boone were each 1-for-3 with a run batted in.
Penn State Altoona got a run across in the top of the first inning, as Boonie's two-out RBI single into left field put the Lions on the board. But Behrend evened the score in the bottom half of the inning, using a two-out RBI hit from Cami McNany to make it 1-1.
The Lions scored another run in the top of the second to get back in front. Fisher led off with a single, moved to third on Brooke Colledge's (Everett, PA/Everett) double, and scored on a sacrifice fly from Burge to put Penn State Altoona ahead 2-1.
But Behrend responded quickly again, as Kayla Salvini's RBI single in the bottom half of the second tied the score 2-2.
The home team grabbed its first lead of the day in the bottom of the fourth, when an Amy Nolte RBI single gave Behrend a 3-2 advantage. Behrend added a pair of runs to its total in the fifth on an Emi Curcio RBI triple and an Ashleigh Schmidt RBI single.
With the loss, Penn State Altoona softball finishes as the AMCC runner-up, the program's best finish since it won the conference tournament in 2014.
