Third seed Penn State Altoona made a tremendous run through the AMCC Softball Championship Tournament, claiming their third overall title and first since 2014.
The 2023 AMCC Softball Championship Tournament went to all 11 games when #3 Penn State Altoona earned the upset victory over #1 Penn State Behrend in the first game Saturday morning. With that being Behrend's first loss in the tournament, an 11th game was needed to determine the conference champion.
Game 10
Penn State Altoona jumped on the top seeded Behrend Lions from the start, pouring on six runs in the top of the first inning. With the first three Altoona batters on base, Gianna Hoppel drew the walk to put the Lions on the scoreboard first. Two more walks awarded to Karli Storm and Hannah Lauck brought in two more runs to give Altoona a 3-0 lead. Three singles by Madison Peters, Madalyn Maynard, and Alyssa Fisher brought in another three runs, as Altoona led 6-0 after the top of the first inning.
Maddie Smith singled up the middle for Behrend in the bottom of the first before Jocelyn McNany crushed a two-run home run over the left field fence, bringing Behrend back into the game to make the score 6-2 after one.
In the top of the fourth, the Altoona Lions built on their lead when Storm hit a big two-out two-run double to deep left field, scoring Hoppel and Fisher, stretching their lead to 8-2. The Altoona Lions added two more runs in the top of the sixth when Hoppel singled down the left field line, eventually scoring on a Madison Lucas single through the left side to make it 9-2 before a Maynard single brought in Lauck to give the Altoona Lions 10, setting the final score at 10-2 in five innings.
Game 11
The hitting continued for Altoona into Game 11, which started out similar to the first game of the day. Alyssa Fisher led things off for the Altoona Lions with a leadoff triple and scored on the next batter as Brooke Colledge recorded the SAC fly to center field. Five straight singles by Hoppel, Lucas, Storm, Peters, and Maynard brought in three more runs for Altoona, giving them a 5-0 lead with just one out. Aubrey Dotts was hit by a pitch with bases loaded, plating another run to give Altoona the 5-0 advantage in the first.
The Behrend Lions put some runs of their own on the scoreboard in the bottom of the third inning. Behrend got two baserunners when Cami NcNany walked and Britney Shaw reached first on an error. Jocelyn McNany then ripped a line drive to left field, scoring two runs for Behrend to make the score 5-2.
Penn State Altoona got one of those runs back in the top of the fourth, when Colledge started the inning off with a double down the left field line and Hoppel singled through to the right side. Storm then singled to right field, picking up the RBI when Colledge crossed the plate, making the score 6-2. The Altoona Lions added two more runs to their total in the top of fifth when singles from Maynard and Dotts put two runners on the base paths. An Alyssa Fisher double to right center brought in both runners, stretching the Altoona lead to 8-2, before Fisher scored herself on a fielder choice to put the Lions up 9-2.
Behrend added two more runs to the scoreboard in the bottom of the 7th when Sierra Williams hit a two-run home run, but that's as close as they would get, setting the final at 9-4 in favor of Penn State Altoona.
Penn State Altoona earns the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. Pairings for the tournament will be announced on Monday.
All-Tournament Team
Madison Peters, Penn St. Altoona
Brooke Colledge, Penn St. Altoona
Karli Storm, Penn St. Altoona
Camy McNany, Penn St. Behrend
Abby Tingley, Penn St. Behrend
Jocelyn McNany, Penn St. Behrend
Sierra Walters, Mount Aloysius
Ella Pearson, Mount Aloysius
Ashtin Hoover, La Roche
Alexis Myers, La Roche
Haley Liccketto, Pitt-Greensburg
Laila Smith, Pitt-Greensburg
Faith McLaughlin, Pitt-Bradford
Daytona Wentzel, Pitt-Bradford