It will be D'Youville College and Penn St. Behrend clashing in the championship game of the AMCC softball tournament on Sunday at 10am at D'Yopuville's Dobson Field.
If the match up sounds familiar, it should--the same two teams met last year in an unforgettable 13 inning thriller that ultimately went to Behrend.
The top seeded Spartans advanced after an epic 10 inning battle with #2 Penn St. Altoona in the last game of the day. The contest pitted the top two pitchers in the conference going toe to toe and finishing the game with a nearly identical stat line, including 8 strikeouts and 2 earned runs. In the end DYC's Kalie McHenry earned the win over rival Kate Burge, but not without a team effort in the field and at the plate.
DYC OF Lydia Monin was a force at the plate, going 3-for-5 with 1 RBI and 1 run scored. PSA SS Haley Giedroc posted identical stats for the Lions.
Penn St. Altoona earned the first win of the day with an 8-2 decision over #5 Pitt-Greensburg. JR Kate Burge had 6 strikeouts and no earned runs to record her 22nd win of the season. SS Haley Giedroc went 3-for-3, scoring every time she got on base while also recording an RBI. Bobcats' OF Katlyn Keenan had a standout game, going 2-for-3 at the plate with 2 RBI.
Game 6 featured a seesaw battle between Mount Aloysius and La Roche. The Redhawks scored first, the Mounties came back, La Roche went up again, and then MAC wrested the lead away for good in a 2 run seventh, quashing a last gasp rally with two runners on to secure the win. MAC OF Leanne Cardoso-Bastos and DH Hannah Simpson combined for a 4-for-7 effort at the plate with 2B Karly Klein contributing 2 RBI. P Morgan Rackish went the distance to get the W. Redhawks OF Andie Lippmann stepped up with 2 hits, and RBI and a run scored, while OF Hayley Lashinsky contributed 2 hits and a run scored.
The third contest of the day was the much anticipated rematch of last year's title game, with #1 seed D'Youville taking on defending champion Penn St. Behrend. In a battle of tournament unbeatens, the third seeded Lions prevailed, 4-3. Rachel Miller got the win and Alexa Bupp the save for Behrend, recording 3 K's each while C Sarah Blagg was an offensive force with 2 hits, an RBI and 2 runs scored. DYC 1B Lauren Devantier contributed 2 RBI on 2 hits.
Uppset minded #6 seed Mount Aloysius faced local rival Penn St. Altoona in the third elimination game of the day, but the Lions unleashed their bats and shut out the Mounties, 8-0. Second baseman Allison Simpson recorded 3 RBI on 2 hits and C Clarissa Keller smacked a walk off single, scoring 2 runs in the fifth inning, and the win was in the books. P Kate Burge earned the victory, fanning 6 and walking none en route to a one-hitter.
Tomorrow's winner will receive the conference’s automatic bid to the NCAA Div. III tournament.