The AMCC Softball Championship Tournament got off to a slow start on Friday with heavy rains and long delays. No. 3 Mount Aloysius College and No. 4 Medaille College each picked up victories in the earlier games, while No.1 Penn State Behrend defeated Medaille 3-0 later on in the afternoon. No. 2 Penn State Altoona earned the win over No. 3 Mount Aloysius College in the nightcap.
#3 Mount Aloysius College d. #6 Alfred State College, 2-1
The game was slated for a 10 a.m. start but after one inning, the game was postponed due to rain and resumed at 2:30 p.m. The game remained scoreless until the bottom of the second inning when the Mounties were able to put two runs on the board. Lilley Vereshack got the rally started by singling up the middle. Alexa Nagy then singled to right center, advancing Vereshack to third. Lexi Wilt came up huge for the Mounties when she doubled to left center, scoring Vereshack and Nagy to take the 2-0 lead. Alfred State started to make a run of their own in the top of the fourth when Nicole Youngberg singled to right center before advancing to second with a stolen base. Felicia Capito then walked to put runners on first and second for the Pioneers. Lauryn Engle then singled to left field, as Youngberg scored to make the score 2-1. Mount Aloysius freshman Traci Hauser pitched all seven innings , giving up just three hits and striking out nine to earn her seventh win of the season.
#4 Medaille College d. #5 Pitt-Bradford, 7-4
Pitt-Bradford jumped out to a quick 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning, but Medaille used a five-run sixth inning to help propel the Mavs to a 7-4 victory over the Panthers. Pitt-Bradford's Faith McLaughlin hit a one-out double to center field and then scored on a Lexi Peters single to left. Medaille struck back in the second inning, taking the lead with two runs in the frame. They put runners on the corners with a leadoff walk, a sacrifice bunt, and a single. After a pop-up to third base, Gabrielle Presutti hit a single into right-center which brought both runners around to score to give Medaille the 2-1 lead. the Panthers were able to tie the game in the top of the sixth. Lexi Peters led off the inning with a single up the middle and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt. After a fly out to right, KT Marx delivered a single to right field, bringing in Peters to tie the game at two. Pitt-Bradford was able to retire the first batter of the sixth, but then ran into trouble as Medaille was able to take the lead on three straight singles, scoring April Chambers. After the Panthers got the second out of the inning on a grounder to third, another single brought in Presutti for the second run of the inning. The Mavs continued their momentum as they quickly scored three more on another single and a double, taking the 7-2 lead after six. Needing five runs to extend the game, the Panthers threatened with one out as they picked up a pinch-hit single to right and drew a walk. Following a fly ball to center, Peters singled into centerfield to bring in one run and an error in the outfield allowed McLaughlin to score from first, cutting the lead to 7-4. That was as close as the Pantherse would get, as a hard line drive to first base brough the game to an end. Kaitlyn Alguire earned the win for the Mavs in the circle, as she gave up nine hits and struck out three, picking up her 13th win of the season.
#1 Penn State Behrend d. #4 Medaille College, 3-0
The game proved to be a pitchers duel with a combined seven hits spread over seven innings. Behrend starter Ashleigh Schmidt tallied her sixth shutout of the season, as she fanned 10 and allowed just two hits for her 10th win. The teams battled through five scoreless innings before the Lions got on the board in the sixth. Schmidt fired up the offense with a two-out triple in the fifth but was stranded. Behrend made up for it with three runs on three hits in the next frame. Amy Nolte singled through the right side and Jocelyn McNany walked to start the inning. Cami McNany loaded the bases with a single to center field. Samantha Manioci hit a sacrifice fly to score Nolte and McNancy came in on an error for a 2-0 lead. Kylee Bundy got the final single to send home pinch runner Britney Shaw from second base. Schmidt faced four batters in the top of the seventh, striking out two
#2 Penn State Altoona d. #3 Mount Aloysius College, 7-2
Thanks to the rain delays, the Penn State Altoona/Mount Aloysius game got off to a late start at 9:00pm. The Lions jumped out to a big 5-0 lead in the bottom of the second inning. Altoona's Gianna Hoppel got things started for her team as she singled to shortstop, advancing Brooke Colledge to third, who then scored on a Mountie error. Casey Reese then singled and advanced to second on the throw, while also picking up the RBI as Hoppel scored to make it 2-0. Another Lion single, along with a ground out, scored two more runs for Altoona lifted the Lions to an early 4-0 lead. Olivia Smith then doubled to left field, bringing home Jayde Burge for the Lions' fifth run of the second innning. After holding the Mounties scoreless in the top of the third, Altoona scored another run in the bottom of the third when Reese recorded another single, once again bringing Hoppel across home plate. The Mounties got on the board in the top of the fifth when Ella Pearson flied out to left field, bringing home Taylor Appenzellar for the Mount's first run of the game, making the score 6-1. The Lions scored their final run of the game in the bottom of the fifth when Colledge scored on a Hoppel double to left center. Kayla Diehl scored for the Mounties on a Whitney Cole single to set the final at 7-2.
The AMCC softball championship tournament will continue on Saturday at 9am when Alfred State and Medaille square off in the losers bracket, followed by Pitt-Bradford and Mount Aloysius. Penn State Behrend and Penn State Altoona will then clash in the winners bracket. Click here for the complete tournament bracket.