SB drops DH at Beaver
The Penn State Fayette softball team saw its three-game winning streak end Wednesday as it was swept at Penn State Beaver in a Pennsylvania State University Athletic Conference (PSUAC) doubleheader by scores of 9-5 and 10-9, with the second game going eight innings.
"These were two hard-fought games," said first-year Fayette head coach Alex Rohlf. "Our offense was running on all cylinders, but defensively we made a few miscues and it cost us in the end. That being said, I am pleased with how we battled and gave them everything we had. Sammi (McGhee) hitting a leadoff home run (in the first game) really sparked some energy and showed we weren't messing around."
In the opener, Fayette (6-10 overall, 2-6 PSUAC) took a 1-0 lead on the McGhee (Hutchison, PA/Yough HS) homer. After Beaver (9-11, 7-6) took a 3-1 lead in the second thanks to a pair of Fayette errors, Fayette scored four times in the top of the third to take a 5-3 lead. Lauren Mastowski (Dawson, PA/Frazier HS) had an RBI double in the inning and both Brianna Hunt (Berlin, PA/Berlin Brothersvalley HS) and Lauran Minerd (Uniontown, PA/Albert Gallatin HS) added RBI singles. Beaver tied the game in the bottom of the inning and once again took advantage of a Fayette miscue.
Beaver added two runs in the fourth to take a 7-5 lead and added a pair of insurance runs in the sixth.
McGhee and Cassidy Uphold (Grantsville, MD/Northern Garrett HS) led Fayette with two hits apiece in the opener with the former having her leadoff home run and a single while the latter had two singles. Courtney McKlveen (Ligonier, PA/Ligonier HS) went the distance in the circle for Fayette and gave up the nine runs (seven unearned) on 14 hits. She had three strikeouts and one walk.
In the nightcap, Beaver won in walk off fashion that was heartbreaking for Fayette. After both teams scored four runs in the first, Fayette scored three in the fourth only to give up four runs in the bottom of the frame. Fayette tied the game in the fifth and took a 9-8 lead in the top of the eighth, but Beaver scored twice in its last at-bat to pull out the win.
In the first inning, Mastowski doubled in a pair before Kelsey Holp (Grindstone, PA/Frazier HS) and Emily Conklin (Carmichaels, PA/Carmichaels HS) added RBI singles to make the score 4-0. After Beaver tied the game in the bottom of the inning, the score held until the fourth.
Fayette scored three runs after taking advantage of two Beaver errors, and Hunt added an RBI on sacrifice fly to make the score 7-3. However, Beaver took advantage of two errors in the bottom half of the frame and scored four runs to take an 8-7 lead.
Carissa Cyphert (Scottdale, PA/Southmoreland HS) tied the game in the fifth with an RBI single that scored Holp, and the game remained tied through seven innings.
Holp hit a two-out single to score Mastowski and give Fayette a 9-8 lead in the eighth, but with one out in the bottom of the inning, Chloe Coleman had an RBI double to tie the game and she scored the game-winning run on a single by Elena Denezza.
Mastowski (two singles and a double) and McKlveen (three singles) each had three hits while McGhee, Holp and Conklin all had two singles each.
Fayette finished with 15 hits to Beaver's 11.
Hayley White (Cumberland, MD/Allegany HS) went 3.1 innings for Fayette and gave up seven runs. McKlveen went four innings and gave up three runs.
Fayette will have to quickly regroup from the sweep as it hosts the top two teams in the conference over the weekend. Penn State Brandywine (20-8, 10-0) comes to town for a doubleheader Friday and then Penn State Schuylkill (14-5, 6-2) heads to Fayette Saturday. Action begins Friday at 2:00 p.m. and at noon on Saturday.
"The theme of the season continues to be us turning some heads," Rohlf said. "People didn't expect us to be the team we have proven to be, despite our record. This is a tough weekend coming up, but I am looking forward to continuing to build upon the things we have built (thus far)."
For more information on the Penn State softball team, go to https://www.psfathletics.com/sports/sball/index or follow the team on Instagram @fayetteathletics.