PENN STATE BEHREND, ALTOONA ADVANCE TO AMCC CHAMPIONSHIP GAME

 The AMCC softball tournament saw much better weather conditions on Saturday as the teams took to the field. After a full slate of five games on the day, it was #1 Penn State Behrend and #2 Penn State Altoona who survived the day to advance to the AMCC Championship Game Sunday morning at 10:00am.  

#4 Medaille d. #6 Alfred State, 3-0
The Medaille Mavericks kept their championship hopes alive Saturday morning by defeating the Alfred State Pioneers 3-0 in the first game of the day. The game remained scoreless in the first four-and-a-half innings of play before Medaille put two runs on the board in the bottom of the fifth. Kylie Lyons got things going for the Mavs when she singled up the middle before advancing to third on a Shay Sommer single down the left field line. Brenna Fenstermaker also singled up the middle, getting the RBI as Lyons scored from third. Camryn Aidemy brought in Sommer on a single to left field, giving the Mavs a 2-0 lead after five innings of play. Medaille added one more insurance run an inning later. Lyons once again started the Mav rally by singling to right center. Sommer smacked a double to left field, scoring Lyons, and setting the final score at 3-0. Kaitlyn Alguire picked up her 14th win in the circle, going all seven innings, giving up just two hits and striking out two. 

#5 Pitt-Bradford d. #3 Mount Aloysius, 2-1
#5 Pitt-Bradford earned the first upset of the tournament, by defeating #3 Mount Aloysius 2-1 in the second game of the day. The Mounties struck first in the bottom of the second inning, with one on and one out, Alexa Nagy reached first on a fielders choice. Tawnya Holben tripled down the right field line, scoring Nagy, as Mount Aloysius took the 1-0 lead. Pitt-Bradford tied it all up in the fourth when Madison Camp singled up the middle. Camp advanced to second on a Chloe Cordova sacrifice bunt before advancing to third on a wild pitch. Kindra Wessels then grounded out to second, but it was enough for Camp to score and tie the game at one. The game remained knotted at one until the top of the seventh when the Panthers were able to add another run to the board. Paige Wertheimer walked and advanced to second on a fielders choice. Cordova singled to right field, sending Wertheimer to third. Wessles then singled through the left side, scoring Wertheimer and the eventual game-winning run. Wessels also tossed three innings for the Panthers, earning her seventh win of the season.

#1 Penn State Behrend d. #2 Penn State Altoona, 5-3
Penn State Behrend didn't waste any time putting a run on the scoreboard, as the Behrend Lions took a 1-0 lead after the first inning. Maria Jones got things started by singling through the left side to start off the bottom of the inning. An Amy Nolte single advanced Jones to third before Jocelyn McNany hit a sacrifice fly to score Jones. Penn State Altoona scored two runs of their own in the top of the second to take a 2-1 lead. Gianna Hoppel reached first base on a Behrend error. Kristen Hewitt walked, advancing Hoppel to second. Casey Reese singled down the right field line, advancing Hewitt to third and scoring Hoppel to tie the game at one. Brooke Colledge then singled to center, scoring Hewitt. Behrend tied the game at two in the bottom of the second when Kylee Bundy singled up the middle and scored on a Kayla Salvini single. The Altoona Lions once again took a one run lead in the top of the fourth when Hewitt doubled to left field, scoring Madison Lucas to go on top 3-2. Behrend answered in the bottom of the inning with a Salvini triple, scoring Emi Curcio, making the score 3-3. Bundy set the final score for the Behrend Lions in the bottom of the fifth when she smacked a two-run double to left center, scoring Britney Shaw and Nolte. Kayla Lindberg got the win in the circle for Behrend, as she threw three innings, giving up three hits and striking out three. 

#4 Medaille d. #5 Pitt-Bradford, 6-1
Medaille struck first in the elimination game, putting a run on the board in the bottom of the first inning. Lyons reached first base on a Panther error, and then advanced to second on another miscue by the Panther defense. Sommer singled through the left side, advancing to second on the throw, and scoring Lyons to take the quick 1-0 lead. Pitt-Bradford tied the game at one-all in the top of the third when Faith McLaughlin singled to right field then stole second base. McLaughlin then advanced to third on a fielders choice before Cordova recorded a sacrifce fly to score McLaughlin from third. Medaille came roaring back in the bottom of the fourth with five runs to give them the 6-1 lead that they would hold onto for the remainder of the game. The Mavs got hits from Abbigail Doherty, Sommer, Fenstermaker, and Sidney Cooper in the fourth while scoring five runs on four hits with one error. Alexis Alguire threw six innings, earning her eighth win of the season. 

#2 Penn State Altoona d. #4 Medaille, 8-6
Penn State Altoona came out on top of a back-and-forth battle with Medaille, knocking the Mavericks out of the AMCC Tournament and earning a berth to compete for the AMCC title. Medaille claimed a 2-0 lead in the top of the first, when groundouts by Fenstermaker and Cooper drove in runs for the Mavericks. Penn State Altoona got a run back in the bottom half of the inning, when Feathers' RBI single up the middle scored Hoppel from third. Medaille expanded its lead to 5-1 in the top of the second. Gabrielle Presutti's two-run single made it 4-1, and she later scored on a wild pitch to put her team ahead by four runs. The Lions chipped away at their deficit in the bottom of the second, getting two runs across to make it a two-run game. Reese and Fisher started the inning with back-to-back singles, and base hits from Burge and Hoppel scored them later in the inning to cut Medaille's lead to 5-3. The Mavericks answered with a run in the top of the third, as April Chambers' fielder's choice grounder scored Camryn Adimey to increase Medaille's advantage to three, 6-3. Penn Sate Altoona got that run back in the bottom of the third, however. A walk by Brooke Boonie and single from Hewitt helped the Lions start the frame by getting two runners on base, and Reese's RBI single to left-center made it 6-4. Penn State Altoona appeared poised to continue scoring during the inning, loading the bases with just one out. But Medaille got out of the jam with a double play, ending the Lions' threat in the third. Penn State Altoona kept its foot on the pedal, getting closer in the bottom of the fifth after Burge's RBI double to left-center that cut the Medaille lead to one, 6-5. The Lions rallied for three runs in the bottom of the sixth to jump ahead. Boonie's two-run double down the left field line put Penn State Altoona in front, and Colledge scored on Fisher's fielder's choice grounder to make it 8-6. Medaille put the potential tying run aboard with two outs in the top of the seventh, but Penn State Altoona got the final out without allowing any damage, sealing a trip to the AMCC Championship on Sunday. Alyssa Fisher started the game in the circle and took a no decision after going 1 1/3 innings. Reese finished the game, pitching 5 2/3 innings to record her team-leading 10th victory of the season. The righty limited Medaille to one run on four hits and three walks.

Penn State Behrend and Penn State Altoona will meet Sunday morning at 10:00am for the AMCC Championship Game. Penn State Behrend enters the game undefeated in tournament play, while Penn State Altoona carries one loss. Game 11 will follow 30 minutes after the conclusion of Game 10, if needed.