Lady Lions Drop Opening Game of USCAA Small College World Series

Dubois, PA -- Lady Lions Drop Opening Game of USCAA Small College World Series.

In their opening game of the 2019 Softball Small College World Series, the #4 seed Lady Lions faced the #5 seed Pomeroy's of St. Mary of the Woods College.  In the top of the first inning, SMWC scored an early run with just one out, but senior picther, Vanessa Jackson sat down the final two batters of the inning.  In the bottom of the inning Beaver was quick to even the score with some smart baserunning.  Brittany Garza pinch ran for Jessica Hughes, who walked in her at bat, and advanced and eventually score on three wild pitches.  

After a scoreless second, the Pomeroy's put their second run of the game on the board, but your Lady Lions were again quick to answer.  Taylor Johnson hit a lead off single and stole second to put Beaver in scoring position.  A strikeout from Lacey Weible gave Beaver their first out of the inning, but Tyler Johnson didn't let that shift the momentum as she hit a rocket to right field for a triple to score her twin sister and even the score.  Hughes then earned her second walk of the game, putting runners on the corners and bringing freshman, Michelle Cisco to the plate.  On a high and inside pitch, Cisco ducked to avoid the ball, but her bat made contact, putting the ball in play.  Despite her force out at first, the odd play allowed Tyler Johnson to score from third and give Beaver the 3-2 lead.  

In the top of the fourth, the Lady Lions allowed St. Mary of the Woods to tie the game at 3, and gave up the lead in the top of the fifth as the Pomeroy's had their best offensive inning of the game, scoring three to make the score 6-3.  Beaver looked to answer in the bottom of the inning with a pair of hits and multiple base runners, but a fielders choice late in the inning kept any runners from advancing past second and kept Beaver off the board.  

Looking for a change of pace, Head Coach Andy Kirschner brought in junior, Jessica Hughes in relief but it wasn't enough to disrupt the momentum of the Pomeroy's who scored two runs on two hits and an error.  Held hitless in the sixth, Beaver trailed 8-3 going into the seventh.  Hughes, threw a great inning in the top of the seventh, sitting down the batters in order, forcing them all into flyouts.  The Lady Lions, seemingly with a boost of confidence after the excellent performance from Hughes, just couldn't get the bats going in their final at bat as they too were retired in order to end the game by a final score of 8-3.  

The Lady Lions were led today by Tyler Johnson who went 1 for 4 with a run and an RBI.  Lacey Weible, Jessica Hughes and Taylor Johnson all had hits in the game as well and Cisco added an RBI.  From the circle, Jackson threw five innings facing 26 batters and striking out 6. Hughes in relief, faced the final 9 batters.  

The first round loss drops Beaver into the loser's bracket where they will face Penn State Brandywine at 10:00am on Tuesday in a rematch of their opening game of the PSUAC Tournament.  Beaver looks for redemption against Brandywine, who beat them 13-1 in their first meeting.