Lady Lions spilt on the road against Fayette

By: Matylda Zamudio

LEMONT FURNACE, Pa. – After taking a home win against Penn State Fayette yesterday, the Penn State Beaver women's softball team faced off against the Penn PSUAC rival again but this time on the road in Saturday's doubleheader, where the Lady Lions went 1-1.

While Fayette struck first with an early run in the bottom of the first, the Lady Lions made it a tie game in the top of the third after a hit by Fayette's pitcher sent freshman Peyton Mattson (Irvine/University) to first base which she then followed up by stealing second, and she was then singled-in by junior Lacey Weible (Hookstown/South Side) (1-1). However, the batters went cold while Fayette put up two runs in both the fourth and fifth inning, which led to the Lady Lions taking a 5-1 loss in game one.

Weible led the offense in game one, going 1 for 2 at bat with 1 RBI in the game.

Junior Jessica Hughes (Hopewell) on the mound for Beaver in game one (L, 4-1) and took the loss. She pitched for four innings, where she allowed nine hits by Fayette and struck out one of the 23 batters she faced. 

Despite the loss in game one, the Lady Lions got focused and hit back hard in game two. The game started off quiet in for the first two innings, but then in the top of the third, Tyler Johnson batted-in both Weible and her sister, freshman Taylor Johnson (San Antonio/ East Central), to score and put the Lady Lions up 2-0. Beaver pulled further ahead in the top of the fourth after Mattson tripled-in senior Brittany Zahn (New Brighton) to bring the score to 3-0. Beaver continued to dominate the scoreboard in the top of the fifth as Tyler Johnson singled in Weible, once again, to score a fourth run for the Lady Lions (4-0). Jackson helped in keeping Fayette's batters at bay in the final two innings by holding them to only one hit in the sixth and zero in the seventh.

Tyler Johnson led the way for Beaver in game two, going 1 for 3 at bat with 3 RBIs followed by Mattson, who also went 1 for 3 with 1 RBI. 

Jackson had another powerful performance at the mound (W, 9-1), where she pitched a complete game and picked up her ninth win of the season. Jackson allowed only two hits by Fayette's batters and struck out three of the 24 batters she faced. She is boasting an impressive ERA of 1.65 through 14 appearances this season.  

After today's split against Fayette, Beaver is now 13-8 overall for the season and 5-2 in the conference. 

The Lady Lions will now face Kent St-Tuscarawas on the road in a doubleheader on April 3. Game one is at 3 p.m. followed by game two at 5 p.m.