Beaver Softball Sweeps Greater Allegheny in Road Doubleheader

Mckeesport, Pa

Evan Pinchot - The Penn State Beaver softball team took to the road for a doubleheader against Greater Allegheny, taking home wins in both games of the series. After losing both games of a home doubleheader against Greater Allegheny on Friday, Beaver bounced back big in this series, outscoring Greater Allegheny 15-2 in both games on Saturday. 

Game one of the doubleheader started out with a bang for Beaver, as they struck first in this one by means of a 3 run home run from Sophomore Cassadie Speed (Cranbury, Nj North Brunswick Township), her third of the season. From there, Beaver would tack on 1 more run in the top of the first, taking a 4 run lead that they would not give back for the rest of the game. In the bottom half of the first, Greater Allegheny would push across two runs, which would turn out to be their only offense in this one as Beaver's bat seemed to be on fire. Adding 7 runs through the next 6 innings, including one run on another home run by Sophomore Marian Nelson (Fairbanks, Ak / Monroe Catholic), Beaver would end up winning this game easily by a final score of 11-2. 

While game two of their doubleheader didn't have the offensive dominance from Beaver like game one did, Beaver still put up on a stong showing in this one. The bats for both teams were silent for the first 4 innings in this game, as neither team was able to squeak out a run until the 5th innings when Beaver struck first on an RBI single by Sophomore Valentia Sandoval (Miami, Fl John A Ferguson). From here, Beaver would be carried by a stellar pitching performance from Sophomore Desiree Aponte (Irving, Tx / Richview), who would end up pitching a 7 innings shutout, allowing only 4 hits and 1 walk with 9 strikeouts throughout. Beaver would eventually add 3 runs to their lead in the seventh inning, putting the game out of reach for Greater Allegheny as Beaver would end up taking game 2 by a final score of 4-0. 

Beaver put together two steller performances throughout their doubleheader today, as they would add 2 wins to their resume to improve their record to 2-2 overall with a 2-2 conference record. There was no shortage of great performaces today by Beaver, as offensively both Cassadie Speed, who went 4-4 with a home run and 3 RBIs in game one, and Freshman Kylie Magnotta (Monaca, Pa / Central Valley High School), who went 3-5 with 2 triples and double along with 2 RBIs in game one, carried the team in game one. With game two being dominant on the mound by Desiree Aponte, who threw a 7 inning shutout with 9 strikeouts, Beaver shined in every aspect today.

The team will look to carry this momentum into their next matchup on Tuesday, March 30, at home against Penn State Mont Alto. This will be a doubleheader, with game one to start at 2 pm, with game two to follow at 4 pm.