BRADFORD, Pa. – The Penn State Altoona softball team recorded a big doubleheader sweep of Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference opponent Pitt-Bradford on Friday afternoon at the Kessel Athletic Complex.

The sweep sets the stage for a showdown with Penn State Behrend in Saturday afternoon's regular season finale in Erie, with the number one seed in the upcoming AMCC Tournament on the line. Both Behrend and Penn State Altoona have identical 12-2 conference records entering the doubleheader, which has already been tabbed as the AMCC Softball Games of the Week.

In Friday's games, Penn State Altoona (18-9, 12-2 AMCC) came back to win 7-4 in the first contest of the doubleheader, then handled Pitt-Bradford (9-21, 5-7 AMCC) 14-7 in game two.

Game One: Penn State Altoona 7, Pitt-Bradford 4

The Lions trailed 4-3 after five innings but scored four runs over the final two frames to defeat Pitt-Bradford by three.

Cameryn Feathers (Martinsburg, PA/Central) went 2-for-3 with two runs scored, a stolen base, and a walk, and Madison Lucas (Philipsburg, PA/Philipsburg-Osceola) was also 2-for-3 with one run batted in and one run scored. Olivia Smith (Martinsburg, PA/Central) went 2-for-4 with two RBI.

Gianna Hoppel (Lewistown, PA/Mifflin County) was 2-for-4 with her first collegiate home run. Brooke Boonie (Petersburg, PA/Juniata Valley) also homered for the Lions.

In the circle, Casey Reese (Cresson, PA/Penn Cambria) struck out a career-high 12 batters while pitching a complete game to record her eighth victory of the season. The right-hander went all seven innings and allowed only one earned run on four hits and a pair of walks.

Penn State Altoona used a two-run homer from Boonie in the top of the second to grab the early lead, and Lucas' RBI single through the left side in the top of the fourth extended it to 3-0.

Pitt-Bradford rallied for four runs in the bottom of the fifth, capitalizing on four Penn State Altoona errors during the frame to jump ahead, 4-3.

But Penn State Altoona responded with three runs in the top of the sixth. Alyssa Fisher's (Lock Haven, PA/Central Mountain) RBI single to shortstop tied the score, and Smith followed that with a two-run base hit up the middle to put the Lions back in front, 6-4.

Hoppel tacked an insurance run on to Penn State Altoona's total in the top of the seventh, as her one-out solo shot to left made it 7-4.

Game Two: Penn State Altoona 14, Pitt-Bradford 7

The Lions finished with a double-digit total of hits for the seventh consecutive game, compiling 15 hits as a team to produce 14 runs.

Jayde Burge (Philipsburg, PA/Philipsburg-Osceola) was 3-for-4 with two doubles, four runs scored, and three RBI, while Brooke Colledge (Everett, PA/Everett) finished 3-for-4 with two RBI and two runs scored.

Fisher went 2-for-2 with her first collegiate home run, three RBI, two runs scored, and a stolen base. Smith was 2-for-4 with a triple, two RBI, and a run scored, and Feathers was 2-for-3 with a run scored, a walk, and a stolen base. Boonie hit another home run for Penn State Altoona, blasting her team-best third of the season.

Fisher started at pitcher and finished with a no decision after pitching 2 2/3 innings. Makenzie Lukehart (Utahville, PA/Glendale) tossed the final 4 1/3 innings in relief to pick up her first win of the season, limiting Pitt-Bradford to two runs on four hits and two walks.

Penn State Altoona plated two runs in the top of the first, when Smith's sacrifice fly to center scored Burge from third and Fisher later stole home.

After Pitt-Bradford picked up a run in the bottom of the first, the Lions exploded for seven runs in the top of the second. Colledge's RBI single to right-center made it 3-1, and after a Burge single, Fisher hit a three-run home run to left to extend her team's advantage to 6-1. Penn State Altoona got another home run later in the frame, as Boonie's three-run shot to center made it 9-1.

The Panthers closed the gap to 9-5 after three, but Smith's RBI triple to right-center in the top of the fourth increased the Lions' lead to five, 10-5.

Pitt-Bradford again drew closer, getting a two-run home run in the bottom of the fourth to cut Penn State Altoona's lead to 10-7. But the Lions used an RBI single from Colledge and sacrifice fly from Burge in the top of the fifth to give themselves some more cushion, putting their lead at 12-7.

In the seventh, Burge's RBI double to left-center and Lukehart's RBI single up the middle made it 14-7.

Now, Penn State Altoona will prepare to face AMCC opponent Penn State Behrend in the teams' last games of the regular season on Saturday, April 30 at 1:00 p.m. in Erie. Altoona and Behrend – both 12-2 in the conference – will battle for hosting rights for the upcoming AMCC Tournament, as the team that finishes atop the regular season standings earns the number one seed and will host the league's postseason on May 6-8.