ERIE, Pa. – The Pitt-Bradford softball team overcame deficits in both game one and two to defeat Penn State Behrend 6-4 and 6-4 in an Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference (AMCC) doubleheader on Thursday.
The Panthers (7-5, 2-0 AMCC) scored four runs in the seventh inning in the opener to win by two runs, while plating three unanswered runs over four innings in the nightcap for their first conference victories.
Sydney Mosby was the winning pitcher in game one and went 3-for-4 in game two. Lauren Hogue dinged a two-run homer off the scoreboard in the nightcap for Pitt-Bradford.
The Lions (6-10, 2-2 AMCC) kept the steady lead in the opener, scoring a run in each of the first three innings. The Panthers got two runs on three hits in the fourth to make it, 3-2.
In the bottom of the sixth, Stacey Herzog (Smethport, PA/Smethport) doubled to left center to knock in Kelsey Fuller (Albion, PA/Northwestern) to take a two-run lead into the final inning.
Pitt-Bradford loaded the bases on two occasions in the seventh with two outs, scoring two runs each time to take its first lead of the game. Behrend had one more chance in the bottom of the frame, but could only generate two hits and no runs in three outs.
Senior pitcher Julie Heinl (Pittsburgh, PA/North Allegheny) fanned five batters in seven innings for the loss.
The second game was similar to the first. The Lions jumped out to a 3-0 lead with two runs in the first and another in the second. The Panthers tied it with three runs in the top of the third.
Leading off for Behrend in the third, Chelsi Riordan (Conneaut Lake, PA/Linesville) doubled down the left field line and left the ball touching the fence before Nicole King (Grove City, PA/Grove City) singled up the middle. Leah Griffin (Springboro, PA/Conneaut Valley), the only player with multiple hits in the nightcap, knocked in Riordan with a single through the hole for a 4-3 lead.
The Panthers shut out the Lions in the final four innings, while adding three more runs to post an identical score from game one.
Fuller started in the circle and pitched four innings, before making way for Kelly Hedderick (Waterford, PA/Mercyhurst Prep). Fuller allowed four earned runs and Hedderick gave up one.
Behrend returns to action on Saturday against Penn State Altoona. The doubleheader begins at 1 p.m.
