LADY LIONS SWEEP PENN COLLEGE TO REMAIN ATOP PSUAC
BY: ATHLETIC STAFF WRITER
Monaca, PA – Thursday, April 23, 2009 – The Penn State Beaver Lady Lions took two games from PSUAC power Penn College (Williamsport, PA) to remain ahead of PSU-Hazleton for the top conference spot.
In game one, the Lady Lions jumped on the Lady Wildcats of Penn College in the first inning as Junior Jen Hain (Northgate/Pittsburgh, PA) led the game off with a single and senior Melissa Swoager (South Side High School/South Side, PA) hit a two run home run to put Beaver ahead 2-0 at the end of one.
Those runs were all Beaver needed as sophomore starting pitcher Kayla Chambers (South Side/Hookstown, PA) pitched a seven inning gem, allowing only two hits, two walks, while striking out four in the process.
Beaver tacked on runs in the 4th and 5th innings as Jamie Karpinski (Quigley Catholic/Beaver, PA) hit an RBI opposite field single in the 4th inning, and Swoager collected and RBI single of her own in the 5th. Karpinski capped Beaver's offensive production by hitting a two-run homer, her second of the season, in the 6th inning to seal the win for the Lady Lions.
In the win, both Swoager and Karpinski had 3 RBI's and a 2 run homer. Swoager led the team with three hits as well.
In game two, it was more of the same as Beaver found themselves up 3-0 after the first two innings of play. In the 1st inning, Hain led the game off with a walk and stolen base, and then scored on a pass ball. In the 2nd inning, Penn College's Heather Ball (Mansfield/Mansfield, PA) walked the bases loaded and Hain advanced the runners on a fielder's choice to make the score 2-0 in favor of Penn State – Beaver. The Lady Lions added another run on a Penn College error to make it 3-0.
Penn College did get on the board this time though, as Lauren Fuller (South Williamsport/South Williamsport, PA) began the 4th inning with a double and then scored on a throwing error to make the score 3-1. Beaver matched its six runs from the previous game as they notched three more runs in the 5th inning as Chambers blasted a two-run RBI double and Hain added yet another RBI.
Chambers pitched another masterful game, throwing another complete game, again allowing just two hits, one walk, striking out three and giving up zero earned runs. Chambers faced just one batter over the minimum (22).
The win places Beaver in first in the PSUAC at 11-1 (17-16 overall), as they head east this weekend to take on Penn State – Abington on Saturday, April 25th, 2009. The first game of the doubleheader starts at 2 p.m.