CLAYSBURG, Pa. – The Penn State Altoona softball team sent its senior players off with a pair of wins Saturday afternoon, when the Lions swept Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference opponent Hilbert College in a doubleheader at Claysburg-Kimmel High School on Altoona's Senior Day.

Penn State Altoona recognized its senior players, Brooke Colledge (Everett, PA/Everett) and Cameryn Feathers (Martinsburg, PA/Central), in a pregame Senior Day ceremony. After that, the Lions (17-15, 9-7 AMCC) came back to win game one 4-3 on a walkoff, then dug out of a four-run hole in the second game to defeat Hilbert (12-14, 6-8 AMCC).

Game One: Penn State Altoona 4, Hilbert 3

The Lions trailed 3-1 going into the bottom of the seventh, but they rallied to win on a three-run walkoff home run by Hanna Lauck (Bellefonte, PA/Bellefonte).

Lauck finished 2-for-4 with the winning home run, which was her second long ball of the season, with three runs batted in and a double. Gianna Hoppel (Lewistown, PA/Mifflin County) was 1-for-3 with a run scored and a stolen base, and Josselyn Nau (Bellefonte, PA/Bellefonte) was 1-for-3 with an RBI.

Colledge had a hit and a run scored, Alyssa Fisher (Lock Haven, PA/Central Mountain) had a hit and a stolen base, and Madalyn Maynard (Towanda, PA/Towanda) also had a hit. Feathers walked once and scored a run.

Nau started in the pitching circle and finished with a no decision. In six innings, she allowed just one earned run on five hits and no walks while striking out three batters. Maynard pitched one inning in relief to pick up her sixth win of the season, yielding no earned runs and recording one strikeout.

After three scoreless innings to start the game, Hilbert drew first blood in the top of the fourth, when a two-out error allowed Samanta Heppel to score and give the Hawks a 1-0 lead.

But Penn State Altoona responded with a run in the bottom half of the fourth to tie the score. With one out, Hoppel reached on a throwing error. Later in the inning, she scored on Nau's RBI single to right, making it 1-1.

The score remained even at one run apiece until the top of the seventh, when Hilbert jumped ahead after Kaitlin Stolowski's two-run double to right.

But Penn State Altoona had the last laugh in the bottom of the seventh, scoring three runs – all with two outs. After the frame started with a groundout and strikeout, Colledge reached on an infield single to shortstop to keep the inning alive. Feathers drew a walk in the next at-bat, before Lauck laced a three-run homer over the left-center fence to hand the Lions a 4-3 walkoff victory.

Game Two: Penn State Altoona 9, Hilbert 4

Penn State Altoona faced a 4-0 deficit through two-and-a-half innings, but the Lions scored nine unanswered runs to power ahead and clinch the doubleheader sweep.

Lauck was 3-for-4 with a double, three RBI, and a run scored, and Hoppel also finished 3-for-4 with a run scored and a stolen base. Colledge batted 2-for-4 with her second home run of the season, two RBI, two run scored, and a stolen base, and Fisher was 2-for-4 with her second home run of the year, an RBI, and a run.

Feathers was 1-for-3 with a double, two runs scored, a walk, and a stolen base, and Nau hit 1-for-2 with two RBI and a walk. Maynard finished with a hit and an RBI, Madison Sitarek (Sykesville, MD/Century) had a hit and a run scored, and Karli Storm (Chest Springs, PA/Cambria Heights) tallied a walk and a run scored.

In the pitching circle, Maynard got the start and registered her second win of the day and seventh victory of the season while tossing a complete game. The right-hander held Hilbert to four runs on six hits and three walks while striking out four Hawk batters.

Hilbert scored two runs in the top of the second, getting a two-out, two-run double to left center by Emma Gionta. The Hawks added two more runs in the third, as Emily Lacki scored on a wild pitch and Victoria Hanley hit an RBI single to left to make it 4-0.

Penn State Altoona got four runs across in the bottom of the third to tie the score. Fisher led off with a home run to left to put the Lions on the board. Colledge followed with a single, and Feathers later walked to put two runners on. Lauck's two-RBI double to left center made it 4-3, and Nau's two-out RBI hit to right later in the inning knotted the score at 4-4.

The Lions scored a run in the bottom of the fourth to grab their first lead of the game. With two outs, Feathers doubled into the left-center gap, and Lauck followed with an RBI single up the middle to give Penn State Altoona a 5-4 advantage.

In the fifth, the Lions were able to increase their lead to three. Sitarek reached on a one-out infield single to second, and one batter later, Colledge sent a pitch over the fence in center to give Penn State Altoona a 7-4 advantage.

The Lions tacked on two more runs in the sixth. Lauck and Hoppel opened the inning with back-to-back singles, and after a fielder's choice, Maynard's RBI single to left gave her team a four-run lead. Nau followed that by hitting a sacrifice fly to center, bringing in her team's ninth run to increase the Lions' advantage to 9-4.

Penn State Altoona softball finishes its regular season on the road next Saturday, May 4, traveling to face first-year AMCC opponent Wells College in a doubleheader starting at 1 p.m.