ALTOONA, Pa. – The Penn State Altoona softball team hosted its first home games of the 2023 season on Tuesday afternoon at Stewart Athletic Field, starting its Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference schedule with a doubleheader split against nearby rival Mount Aloysius College.

In game one, Penn State Altoona (7-7, 1-1 AMCC) scored four runs in the latter stages of the contest to overcome a 1-0 deficit and win 4-1. Mount Aloysius (9-7, 3-1 AMCC) bounced back to pull out a tight 2-1 victory in game two.

Game One: Penn State Altoona 4, Mount Aloysius 1

Mount Aloysius took a 1-0 lead in the top of the third inning, but Penn State Altoona scored two runs in the bottom of the fifth to leap ahead. The Lions added two more runs to their total in the sixth, en route to a three-run win.

Madison Peters (Bellefonte, PA/Bald Eagle) started in the circle and pitched a complete game to pick up her fifth win of the season. In seven innings, the right-hander held Mount Aloysius to just one run while scattering nine hits and recording no walks. Peters also struck out six batters.

At the plate, Gianna Hoppel (Lewistown, PA/Mifflin County) went 2-for-3 with a run scored, Karli Storm (Chest Springs, PA/Cambria Heights) was 1-for-2 with two runs scored, a run batted in, and a walk, and Peters went 1-for-2 with an RBI.

Madison Lucas (Philipsburg, PA/Philipsburg-Osceola) was 1-for-2 with a run scored, and Brooke Colledge (Everett, PA/Everett), Alyssa Fisher (Lock Haven, PA/Central Mountain), and Hanna Lauck (Bellefonte, PA/Bellefonte) had one hit apiece for the Lions, with Fisher also tallying an RBI.

Mount Aloysius broke a scoreless tie in the top of the third, when Whitney Cole's two-out RBI single through the right side gave the visitors a 1-0 advantage.

Penn State Altoona finally broke through in the bottom of the fifth, scoring two runs to claim the lead. Lucas led off the frame with a base hit to center, Storm followed by drawing a walk, and Peters moved both runners into scoring position with a sacrifice bunt. Madalyn Maynard (Towanda, PA/Towanda) scored Lucas in the next at-bat, hitting a sac fly to center to tie the score at 1-1. Fisher put Penn State Altoona in front with her RBI single to right-center field.

The Lions scored a pair of insurance runs in the sixth. With one out, Hoppel reached on a single to right center, then moved to second on a Lucas sac bunt. Storm drove in Hoppel with her single to right, and she took second base on a fielding error by the right fielder. Penn State Altoona capitalized on the error in the next at-bat, when Peters' RBI single to left made it 4-1.

Peters and the Lions retired Mount Aloysius in order in the top of the seventh, clinching the game-one win.

Game Two: Mount Aloysius 2, Penn State Altoona 1

Both teams were deadlocked in a scoreless battle through five innings, until Mount Aloysius put the game's first run on the board in the top of the sixth. Penn State Altoona responded in the bottom half of the inning, getting its first hits and run of the contest to even the score at 1-1. But the Mounties answered with a run in the seventh to escape with the narrow win.

Fisher got the game-two start in the pitching circle and tossed a complete game while taking the tough-luck loss. Over seven innings, the righty allowed just one earned run on seven hits and no walks.

Cameryn Feathers (Martinsburg, PA/Central) was 1-for-1 with Penn State Altoona's first hit of the game in the sixth inning, and she also finished with two walks and a run scored. Hoppel went 1-for-2 with an RBI and a walk. Lauck and Lucas also had one hit each for the Lions.

Fisher and the Lions held Mount Aloysius off of the scoreboard until the top half of the sixth. With two outs, the umpires ruled that a throw to first on a ground ball brought the first baseman's foot off of the bag, extending the inning for the Mounties. The visitors cashed in on their next at-bat, when Makayla Weyant's RBI single drove in the game's first run.

Penn State Altoona answered in the bottom of the sixth to tie the game on four straight hits. With one out, Feathers' single to left broke up Mount Aloysius' no-hit bid, and Lauck followed with a single to right to put runners at the corners. Hoppel's RBI single to right center put Penn State Altoona on the board, and Lucas came next with an infield hit to third to load the bases. However, the Lions were unable to do any further damage, leaving the bases full.

Mount Aloysius reclaimed the lead in the next half inning, scoring the go-ahead run in the top of the seventh on Sarah Henninger's sac fly to center. The Mounties held Penn State Altoona scoreless in the bottom of the inning to hang on for the win.

Penn State Altoona softball continues its schedule at home this Thursday, April 6, when the Lions will take on nearby non-conference opponent Juniata College in a doubleheader beginning at 3 p.m.