MOUNT ALOYSIUS REMAINS UNBEATEN AS THREE TEAMS HEAD INTO CHAMPIONSHIP SUNDAY

Day two of the AMCC championships saw three elimination games with D'Youville College, Hilbert College, and Penn State Altoona's seasons coming to a close. Medaille College bounced back from a day one loss, while Mount Aloysius College earned the upset victory over Penn State Behrend to remain as the tournament's only unbeaten team heading into Sunday.

May 5, 2018

Day two of the AMCC championships saw three elimination games with D'Youville College, Hilbert College, and Penn State Altoona's seasons coming to a close. Medaille College bounced back from a day one loss, while Mount Aloysius College earned the upset victory over Penn State Behrend to remain as the tournament's only unbeaten team heading into Sunday.

In a weather-delayed game from Friday, #1 Penn State Behrend opened a sunny Saturday with a 1-0 win over #5 Penn State Altoona in the opening contrest of the AMCC softball championship tournament.

The host Lions needed just one run in the first inning to get the winning margin. Lead off hitter Carson Hauser smacked a triple and was driven in by Katie Gozzard. AJ Nichols got the win, allowing just 3 hits and fanning 7, while Alexa Bupp shut the door the last 2 innings for the save.

The day's second game served as the tournament's first elimination game, with #2 Medaille College dispatching #4 D'Youville College, 8-0 in a 6 inning victory. Mavericks pitcher Laura Kratzke gave up just one hit, no walks and struck out eight in a stellar effort in the circle. Mercedes Sulzbach was a perfect 4-for-4 at the plate while teammate Mikayla Schlehr fuelled the offense with 3 RBI.

The second elimination game of the day was a seesaw battle with four lead changes. #6 Hilbert College scored first in the third only to see #5 Penn St. Altoona respond with three. The Hawks answered with three of their own in the fourth, and the Lions matched them in the fifth. Hilbert mustered one more in the sixth but that was all the scoring for the day, with a 6-5 final.

PSA's Sidney Schultz notched the win and Emily Strouse got the save. Haley Giedroc was impressive at the plate with 3 hits, 2 runs scored and 2 RBI. Hilbert's Morgan Grosch made it happen for the Hawks with 2 hits, 2 runs scored and an RBI.

The clash of the tournament unbeatens was a high intensity affair with a dramatic finish. After trading runs in the first, the scoreboard remained empty until Penn St. Behrend broke the drought with a run in the fifth. That was promptly matched by Mount Aloysius in the sixth. Neither team yielded in the seventh. Mount's bats heated up in the eighth enough to push the go ahead run across the plate, and a defensive stand sealed the win.

Kara Pisczek came in relief of Hannah Ruby to pick up the win. Lydia DeFazio went 2-for-3 at the plate which included the game winning RBI.

The final elimination game of the day saw Medaille blanking Penn St. Altoona in 8-0 in 5 innnings to send the Lady Lions home. The Mavs didn't waste any time putting runs on the board, as they took a 3-0 lead after one. They recorded another run in the third inning and added two more in the fourth. Two more runs in the bottom of the fifth set the final score for the day. Medaille's Laura Kratzke picked up the win, giving up just one hit in five innings while striking out four. Kratzke also helped her own cause at the plate, going 3-for-3 with 2 RBI. Sharon Trigilio went 2-for-3, scoring two runs and also knocking in one.