Freyermuth tosses 'no-no'; sweeps doubleheader against Franciscan

Bert DeSalvo, Staff Writer
Thursday, April 7, 2011

Steubenville, OH - The weather finally cooperated and allowed the Penn State Beaver Lady Lions softball team to return to action after a 10-day layoff. Beaver swept a doubleheader against the Lady Barons of Franciscan University of Steubenville by scoring 23 runs on 32 hits in just 10 innings of play.

In the first game, Beaver's bats took a few innings to come out of their hibernation, but in the third inning, the Lady Lions exploded for a season-high 10-run outburst. During the frame, senior Jessica Bartges (East Allegheny High School/North Versailles, PA) hit a base-clearing 3-RBI-single to give the Lady Lions a comfortable lead. Beaver tacked on three more runs over the next two innings of work for a 13-0 lead.

As Beaver went into the bottom of the fifth, the only real suspense came when fans wondered if starting pitcher Korey Freyermuth (Perry Traditional Academy/Pittsburgh, PA) was going to complete her attempt at a perfect game. Unfortunately, with two outs, a questionable call at first base broke up the pefect game, but Freyermuth responded by striking out the next Franciscan batter to earn a no-hitter. 

In the win, Freyermuth pitched five innings of no-hit ball, struck out five, allowed only one base runner, and zero walks.

Offensively, Beaver pounded 15 hits and tallied 12 RBIs in the victory. Bartges went 3-3 with 4 RBIs and a stolen base. In addition, junior Ashley Watkins (Seneca Valley High School/Cranberry Township, PA) went 3-4 with an RBI and a double. 

In the second game, Beaver jumped on Franciscan's pitching, scoring five runs in the first inning. Myranda Raymond (Brashear High School/Pittsburgh, PA) launched a 3-run homer to right center to cap the scoring off in the inning. The Lady Lions scored two more runs in the second inning as Raymond came just a few feet shy of notching her second homer of the game. 

The Lady Lions made it 10-0 as Raymond continued to pound the ball, drilled a line drive off the third base bag, and slid into second base with an RBI double. 

The Lady Barons scored their lone run of the day with a wild pitch by starting pitcher Alyssa Carver (New Brighton High School/New Brighton, PA) in the fifth innning. However, Carver was brilliant in her performance as well as she earned the complete game victory and allowed just five hits, struck out one, and walked none. 

With the sweep, Beaver improved to 7-7 overall and 0-0 in the PSUAC. They now face an important weekend when they host Penn College, Penn State Worthington Scranton, and archrival Penn State Hazleton. Beaver's game against Penn will be at 3 p.m., Friday, April 8.