ECAC Tournament: Penn State Altoona 6, Bethany College 1
No. 5 Penn State Altoona softball posted wins over No. 1 Bethany College and No. 2 Misericordia University during Saturday's Eastern College Athletic Conference Division III South Region Tournament Semifinals at Bison Field to advance to the championship on Sunday.
With the wins, the Lady Lions advance to play for the ECAC South Championship tomorrow at 12:00 PM against the winner of tomorrow morning's game between Bethany and Misericordia. A Penn State Altoona win would clinch the ECAC title, while a loss would force one more game to decide the championship.
In game one, a big sixth inning propelled Penn State Altoona to a 6-1 victory over Bethany.
Senior Kelly Chambers' three-run home run to right-center sparked a six-run top of the sixth that put the Lady Lions in the lead for the first time all day.
Senior Raychel DeArmitt threw a complete game to pick up her 18th win of the season. In seven innings of work, she allowed one run on three hits and two walks while recording nine strikeouts.
Bethany grabbed the early momentum when Jessica Kusnierz led off the bottom of the first inning with a home run to left. But DeArmitt and the Lady Lions' defense settled into a groove, holding the Bison scoreless for the next six innings.
Meanwhile, Penn State Altoona's work at the plate paid off in the sixth inning when they were finally able to break through against Bethany starting pitcher Cassie Weiss. With one out, junior Clarissa Keller drew a walk and sophomore Colleen Meehan doubled off of the left field fence to set the table for Chambers, who hit a line drive home run to put the Lady Lions in the lead 3-1. The homer was Chambers' 14th of the season.
The Lady Lions continued to add on three more runs in the sixth to set the final score at 6-1.
ECAC Tournament: Penn State Altoona 10, Misericordia University 3
In game two, Penn State Altoona posted a 10-3 win over Misericordia.
Sophomore Kate Burge pitched five innings to pick up her ninth win of the season. She yielded three runs while striking out four. Senior Raychel DeArmitt pitched two scoreless innings in relief.
Penn State Altoona grabbed a 5-0 lead in the top of the first inning. Freshman Ashley Struble's RBI single opened the scoring, and senior Ala Miller followed with a three-run homer to left-center. In the next at-bat, Burge connected for her first collegiate home run to give her team a five-run advantage.
Senior Kelly Chambers increased the Lady Lions' lead to 6-0 in the second with a solo shot to left-center, her 15th home run of the year.
Misericordia got two runs in the bottom of the second, but Penn State Altoona got those runs back in the fourth. Senior Lily Glunt's RBI double down the right field line and Struble's RBI single through the left side made it 8-2.
Ahead 8-3 in the seventh, Penn State Altoona plated two more runs on RBI singles by Keller and Meehan to widen the gap to 10-3.
NCAA Tournament: Lebanon Valley 2, Penn State Behrend 1
Lebanon Valley's Emily Johnson hit an RBI single in the bottom of the seventh inning to score Tessa Deardorff for the game-winning run and lead Lebanon Valley past Penn State Behrend 2-1 in the NCAA Tournament hosted by Alfred University on Saturday.
Both teams went through five scoreless innings until the Dutchwomen got on the board in the bottom of the sixth. The Lions answered in the top of the seventh, but Lebanon Valley made the most of its last inning and got the game winner in the last frame.
Haley Neff pitched her way to the win in seven innings and allowing just four hits by Behrend. Lion sophomore Rachel Miller was in the circle again for Behrend and allowed two earned runs on seven hits.
In the bottom of the sixth, Sammy Bost singled and then stole second. Angel Harris, a pinch hitter, reached on a fielder's choice for a sacrifice and Bost scored for a 1-0 lead.
Starting the top of the seventh, freshman Alexa Bupp doubled before senior Leah Griffin reached on a fielder's choice for two runners on. Bupp scored on a single on a single by freshman Sarah Blagg to tie the game at one-all heading into the bottom of the frame.
The Dutchwomen made the most of their last inning to stay alive and eliminate the Lions from the tournament.