Lady Lions split in Thiel College doubleheader

By: Matylda Zamudio

GREENVILLE, Pa. – The Penn State Beaver women's softball team split road games against Thiel College in Thursday afternoon's doubleheader.

The Lady Lions took an impressive 9-2 victory to start the day.

While Thiel came out ahead by one run after the first inning (2-1), the Lady Lions took over in the top of the third, where five Beaver batters combined for five hits and five runs (6-2). Beaver held its four-run lead in the top of the fifth, Cisco homered to left center followed by senior Brenna Cepull (Monaca/Central Valley), who batted next, doubling and then stealing home to put Beaver ahead by six (8-2) and then add on one more run in the sixth to take a 9-2 win.

Freshman Michelle Cisco (Churchville/C. Milton Wright) led the way for Beaver in the first game, where she went 3 for 3 and recorded 3 RBIs. She has a current batting average of .477. Cisco was followed by freshman Taylor Johnson (San Antonio/ East Central), who also went 3 for 3 at bat and has a current batting average of .402.

Senior Vanessa Jackson (Snohomish) took the mound for Beaver in game one (W, 16-2), where she pitched a complete game. Jackson allowed six hits and struck out three of the 27 batters she faced. She has a current ERA of 1.46.

The Lady Lions didn't have the same lucky in game two, where they lost by a close score of 7-6.

Cisco got Beaver on the board first after she singled-in junior Lacey Weible (Hookstown/South Side) to score (1-0). But Thiel tied the game in the bottom of the inning and then added three more runs in the bottom of the second while holding Beaver scoreless to pull ahead by three (4-1). With the bases loaded in the top of the third, the Lady Lions cut the deficit to two after Cepull flew out to the center field on a sacrifice two-out hit to send freshman Tyler Johnson (San Antonio/East Central) home (4-2). However, Thiel didn't let Beaver get too close and put up two runs to wrap the third (6-3). Beaver added on a run in the top of the fourth, which was then followed by a quiet fifth and sixth inning for both teams. But the Lady Lions made a comeback in the top of the seventh, which began with Cisco, who advanced to second after she beat the throw from center field, batting in Tyler Johnson and Wieble to make it a one-run game (6-5). Cepull, who batted next, then singled to shortstop, propelling Cisco to score and tie the game at 6-6. However, the Lady Lions couldn't hold off Thiel from scoring in the bottom of the inning, after the opponent's last batter singled-in a runner from third to hand Beaver a 7-6 loss in the second game. 

Cisco led the offense in game two, where she went 2 for 4 at bat and recorded 3 RBIs followed by Weible, who went 2 for 4, earned 1 RBI and two runs.

Junior Jessica Hughes (Hopewell) took the loss at the mound for Beaver in game two (L, 6-3), after she lost the lead in the bottom of the seventh. Hughes pitched the last 4.2 innings, allowed eight hits and struck out one of the 25 batters she faced.

Beaver is now 26-10 overall for the season and holds on the first seed in the West at 14-2 in the PSUAC conference. The Lady Lions will travel to Penn State Du Bois' campus to start its last series of the regular season on April 22. Game one is at 6 p.m. followed by game two at 8 p.m.