#1 PENN ST. BEHREND, #3 PENN ST. ALTOONA TO MEET IN AMCC CHAMPIONSHIP GAME

After two days of the 2023 AMCC Softball Championship Tournament, the field is down to two -- #1 Penn State Behrend and #3 Penn State Altoona are the final two remaining teams and will square off at 10:00 a.m. Saturday morning to determine the AMCC Champion. Should Penn State Behrend, who is currently undefeated in the tournament, lose the 10:00 game, there will be one final game played 30 minutes after the conclusion of the first game.

Game 5
#3 Penn State Altoona defeated #5 Pitt-Bradford 9-1 in five innings in Game 5 of the 2023 AMCC Softball Championship Tournament. Pitt-Bradford opened up the scoring with one run in the the top of the first inning before Penn St. Altoona answered with two runs on two hits in the bottom half of the inning. The Lions added another run in the bottom of the second to make it 3-1 before Madison Lucas hit a grand slam in the fourth to open the scoring for Altoona, making it 7-1. Two more runs in the fifth gave the Lions a 9-1 lead, ending the game in the fifth inning. Karli Storm went 4-for-4 at the plate for Altoona, with Lucas adding four RBI. Madison Peters earned the win in the circle, going all five innings, giving up just two hits and walking one with striking out two. 

Game 6
#4 La Roche defeated #6 Pitt-Greensburg 5-4 in nine innings in the second game of the day on Friday morning. The Redhawks were in control of the game from the beginning, as they scored a run in each of the first two innings to take a quick 2-0 lead over the Bobcats. They added another run in the bottom of the fifth to make it 3-0, which appeared to be an insurance run heading into the top of the sixth inning. Pitt-Greensburg wasn't quite ready to go home yet, as they loaded the bases and a hit-by-pitch brought in the first run of the game for the Bobcats. A fielders choice for Pitt-Greensburg on the next batter brought in another run, before an error scored one more, tying the game at 3-3. Neither team could get a run across the plate in the next two innings, but a Haley Liccketto single in the top of the ninth scored Beatrice Cook, giving the Bobcats their first lead of the game (4-3). La Roche put two runners on in the bottom of the ninth, when Macy Vignolini singled to center field, plating Ashtin Hoover and Abby Hoffman, setting the final score at 5-4 in favor of the Redhawks. Hoover and Alexis Myers each recored two hits for La Roche, while Vignolini led the team with two RBI. Myers started in the circle for La Roche, going five innings, giving up three hits and two runs. Hoover came in for the the final four innings to earn the win.

Game 7
#1 Penn State Behrend earned the Game 7 win in the winners bracket against #2 Mount Aloysius College, taking the 2-0 victory to advance to the AMCC Championship game slated for Saturday morning at 10:00am. The Lions scored their first run quickly, as they put a run up on the scoreboard in the bottom of the first inning when Meghan Petitte was out at first, plating Maddie Smith to pick up the RBI and give the Lions a quick 1-0 lead. The score would remain 1-0 until the fourth inning when Behrend added their second, and final, run of the game. With Petitte on third, Lexi Edgett flied out to left field as Petitte tagged up and scored to make the score 2-0 in favor of the Lions. Both teams remained scoreless for the remainder of the game as the Lions earned the 2-0 win and punched their ticket to the AMCC title matchup. Behrend freshman pitcher Abby Tingley went all seven innings to earn the complete game shutout and her 10th win of the season. Tingley gave up four hits on two walks while recording seven strikeouts. Maddie Smith and Petitte recorded the Lions' only two hits of the game.

Game 8
Penn State Altoona put runs on the scoreboard in each of the first three innings to build an early lead over La Roche, before cruising to a X-X victory over the Redhawks. The Lions went up 1-0 in the bottom of the first when Gianna Hoppel singled up the middle, plating Brooke Colledge to get the scoring started. Alyssa Fisher then doubled in the second inning, bringing in Madison Peters and Hannah Lauck to increase their led to 3-0. Lauck then flied out to center field in the bottom of the third, scoring Hoppel to make the score 4-0. The next 2.5 innings saw zeros for both teams until Altoona two more insurance runs in the bottom of the sixth. Aubrey Dotts got things started for the Lions in the sixth by reaching on a walk before Colledge doubled to left field, advancing Dotts to third. Hoppel then singled up the middle, bringing both Dotts and Colledge in for the 6-0 lead. 

Game 9
Mount Aloysius jumped on the Altoona Lions in the first inning as Grace Gardini reached first base on a bunt. She eventually scored when Alysha Cutri singled up the middle, giving the Mounties the early 1-0 lead after one inning. Penn State Altoona, playing in their third game on the day, kept fighting back when they tied the game in the top of the third. Pitcher Madison Peters doubled down the left field line then advanced to third on a Madalyn Maynard bunt. Aubrey Dotts then grounded out to second base, scoring Peters on the play to tie the game at 1-all. The Lion bats came alive in the top of the sixth, as they scored four runs on four hits. After two singles and walk for Altoona, Lauck smacked a double down the left field line, scoring all three runs to take a 4-1 lead. Peters followed that up with a double of her own to bring in Lauck and make it 5-1. The Lions still weren't done, adding two more runs in the top of the seventh, as Colledge and Hoppel each grounded out, but each bringing in a run in the process, to set the final at 7-1.