Lady Lions come up short in PSUAC Tournament
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Penn State Beaver
|
2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 4 |
|
Penn State Hazleton
|
5 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 10 | 14 | 1 |
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Penn State Brandywine
|
3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 7 | 13 | 14 | 0 |
|
Penn State Beaver
|
0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 |
By: Matylda Zamudio
DU BOIS, Pa. — After earning the No. 1 spot in the PSUAC standings for the regular season, the Penn State Beaver women's softball team postseason run was cut short after coming up short in both matches in the PSUAC Tournament Semifinals on Sunday afternoon. The Lions were first pitted against PSUAC rival Penn State Du Bois and then faced rival Penn State Hazleton in an elimination game.
Up first was Brandywine, who jumped out ahead by three runs over the Lady Lions in the first inning. The defense kept Brandywine at bay in the top of the second, which afforded the batters a chance to get the deficit down in the bottom of the inning, starting with senior Brenna Cepull (Monaca/Central Valley) hitting a grounding out to second base to put freshman Michelle Cisco (Churchville/C. Milton Wright) on third. Senior Dina Cable (Mannington/ Salem County Vo Tech) then grounded out to the second baseman to send Cisco to home plate (3-1). But Lady Lions struggled for the rest of the game, allowing Brandywine to put up 10 runs while they couldn't get the offense back on track and fell 13-1 in game one.
Senior Vanessa Jackson (Snohomish) and senior Brittany Zahn (New Brighton) combined for two hits while Cable earned the only RBI of the game.
The pitching core faced 35 batters and allowed 13 runs on 14 hits over five innings against Brandywine.
After the loss to Brandywine, it was do or die against for Lady Lions, who faced elimination if they couldn't bring down Hazleton in game two.
After collecting two outs on their first two batters, the Lady Lions started to find their offensive rhythm after Cisco doubled to right field and drove-in Jackson to score (1-0). Cisco then stole third base and scored on an error by center field, putting Beaver up 2-0 in the top of the first. But Hazleton hit back hard, forging a five-run in the bottom of the inning followed by another four in the second to put the Lady Lions down by seven (9-2). Both teams were quiet on offense in the next two innings, Hazleton got one more run in before the game concluded, ending Beaver's postseason run with a 10-2 loss.
Cisco earned the only RBI in the second game, went 1 for 3 at bat and earned one run while Jackson earned one run and went 1 for 2 at bat.
The pitching core faced 29 batters and allowed 10 runs on 14 hits over five innings against Hazleton.
Despite not bringing home the PSUAC trophy, the Lady Lions had a great season which included six players making the PSUAC All-Conference team.
As the No. 4 seed, Beaver will play St. Mary of the Woods College in the USCAA Tournament on Monday, May 13. The game is slated for 2 p.m.
