ERIE, Pa. – The Penn State Altoona softball team suffered a doubleheader sweep at the hands of Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference opponent Penn State Behrend on Saturday afternoon, losing 8-0 and 12-3 at Behrend Field in the AMCC Softball Games of the Week.

With its victories, Behrend (20-13, 14-2 AMCC) clinches the number one seed and hosting duties for the upcoming AMCC Tournament, which will be held Friday, May 6 through Sunday, May 8 in Erie. Meanwhile, Penn State Altoona (18-11, 12-4 AMCC) will take the number two seed in the tournament.

Game One: Penn State Behrend 8, Penn State Altoona 0 (Final/5 innings)

The Lions were overpowered by Behrend in game one of the doubleheader, managing just one hit and three total base runners, while the home team put eight runs on the board through five innings to end the game early via the eight-run rule.

Gianna Hoppel (Lewistown, PA/Mifflin County) had Penn State Altoona's lone hit, while Kristen Hewitt (Coalport, PA/Glendale) and Makenzie Lukehart (Utahville, PA/Glendale) each drew a walk.

Casey Reese (Cresson, PA/Penn Cambria) started at pitcher and suffered the loss, going 1 2/3 innings and yielding two earned runs. Alyssa Fisher (Lock Haven, PA/Central Mountain) finished the game in the circle, pitching the final 2 2/3 innings and surrendering a pair of runs.

Behrend broke a scoreless tie with a six-run bottom of the second. Ashleigh Schmidt's two-run double down the left field line put the home team on the board, and she later scored on an error to make it 3-0. Later in the frame, Maria Jones scored on a wild pitch, and Cami McNany drove in a pair with her double to left.

McNany's sacrifice fly to right in the bottom of the fourth extended the Behrend lead to 7-0.

Penn State Altoona broke up Behrend's no-hit bid in the top of the fifth on Hoppel's base hit down the right field line. But the home team got a home run from Emi Curcio in the bottom of the fifth to invoke the eight-run rule and hand Penn State Altoona a loss.

Game Two: Penn State Behrend 12, Penn State Altoona 3 (Final/5 innings)

Penn State Altoona's offense had a little more success in game two, but the Lions were unable to slow down Behrend's hitters, as the home team put 12 runs on the board over four innings to earn another run-rule win.

Hoppel went 2-for-2 for Penn State Altoona with a run scored, and Cameryn Feathers (Martinsburg, PA/Central) was 1-for-3 with a double and a run batted in. Hewitt went 1-for-2 with a run scored, and Jayde Burge (Philipsburg, PA/Philipsburg-Osceola), Madison Lucas (Philipsburg, PA/Philipsburg-Osceola), and Fisher also had hits for the Lions.

Fisher took the loss in the circle for Penn State Altoona after pitching three innings, while Lukehart tossed one inning in relief.

Behrend took a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first on Samantha Manioci's bases-loaded walk and Kylee Bundy's sacrifice fly.

Penn State Altoona answered in the top of the second, scoring its first runs of the day to tie the score at 2-2. Hoppel singled and Hewitt reached on a fielder's choice to put two runners on for the Lions. With two outs, Lucas singled to right, and an outfield error by Behrend allowed both Hoppel and Hewitt to score.

However, Behrend countered with a three-run home run from Jocelyn McNany in the bottom of the second to jump back into the lead, 5-2. Amy Nolte's three-run double to left in the bottom of the third extended the home team's lead to 8-2.

In the bottom of the fourth, Kayla Lindberg and Kayla Salvini each drew bases-loaded walks to score runs, and Nolte contributed a two RBI single to right to put Behrend up 12-2.

An RBI double to right from Feathers plated a run for Penn State Altoona in the top of the fifth, but the Lions were unable to generate any more offense, falling in another eight-run rule-shortened game at the end of the frame.