Beaver Takes Two Big Wins From Schuylkill

By: Evan Pinchot 

Penn State Beaver girl's softball took on Penn State Schuylkill on Saturday in a conference double header. These teams looked very evenly matched coming into this one, as Beaver looked to extend their 6 game winning streak. With their conference records on the line, both teams seem poised to take away two wins in this doubleheader. 

The first of the two games started at 2 p.m. and right from the start you could see how badly both teams wanted to win. From the begining, the two teams went back and forth with the lead. It wasn't until the end of the sixth inning when Beaver took a 6-3 lead did the game seem to be in control, but Schuylkill wouldn't let that feeling last for long. In the top of the seventh inning Schuylkill rallied back to score three runs and tie the game up at 6-6, consequently sending the game into extra innings. In the top of the eighth inning, Beaver started off by turning a huge double play thanks to the arm and glove of Sunnie Ligget (Avella, PA / Avella) who was ablet to make a fantastic catch in center field and turn that into a double-play by throwing the runner at second out after she had wandered to far off the base. After making a great play in the field to help Beaver blank Schuylkill in the top of the eighth inning, Sunnie then was moved over with a sacrifice bunt, and then scored the game winning run thanks to a walkoff hit from Vanessa Jackson (Snohomish WA, Snohomish). The Beaver girls ended up winning by a score of 7-6 in the toughest game they had played all year. 

The second game of the doubleheader started at 4 p.m. and this one seemed to be a lot more lopsided than the first. Beaver started off the game by scoring an impressive 10 runs in the first inning, jumping out to a huge lead. Schuylkill seemed tired though, and struggled to get back into the game after that as Beaver went on to score seven runs in the second inning and two more in the third, ending this game in only three innings. This stellar performance was fueled by a number of players coming through with runners aboard, as the whole team seemed to contribute in this win. When it was all said and done, Beaver walked away with their second win of the day by a score of 19-4. 

The Beaver girls had a great performance in both games today, showing both how resilient and how dominant they can be when given the chance. With a clutch performance by Sunnie Ligget and Vanessa Jackson, Beaver was able to hold on for a tough win in the first game; however, the second game was a dominant performance fueled by outstanding hitting performances from Jenna Petrucci (New Castle, PA / Shenango) and Rachael Charlier (Burgettstown, PA / Burgettstown). Beaver now sits at 18-16 overall with a 5-1 conference record. Their next game will be Sunday, April 17 at home versus the girls of Penn State Brandywine. This will be senior day for the team and the first game will start at 12 p.m.