Softball Defeats La Roche in Game One; Falls in Nightcap

PITTSBURGH, Pa. – The Penn State Behrend softball team defeated La Roche 11-4 in game one, before the Redhawks managed a 6-5 come-back victory in game two in Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference (AMCC) action on Saturday.

For the third straight doubleheader, the Lions (13-13, 9-3 AMCC) split a pair of games, winning the opener and then falling in the nightcap. Amanda Krolczyk (Union City, PA/Fort LeBoeuf) was 6-for-9 on the day, going 4-for-5 in game one with two doubles.

Behrend had 26 hits including 11 extra-base hits for the afternoon. In the opener, the Lions plated 11 runs on 16 hits. Sarah Blagg (Cranberry Township, PA/Seneca Valley) had a double and triple to help make up her three hits.

The Lions had three three-run innings, starting with the first. Allania Banta (Waterford, PA/Fort LeBoeuf) singled and scored on an error, while Krolczyk had a hit to right field and touched home on an Alexa Bupp (Warren, PA/Warren) single. Shannon McDonnell (Fayston, VT/Harwood Union) also scored on the play for a 3-0 lead.

La Roche got a run in the bottom of the first, but Behrend took a 6-1 lead after the third inning. The Redhawks cut the lead by three with two more runs in the fifth.

Blagg led off the top of the sixth with a triple and quickly scored on Banta's single to shortstop. Krolczyk picked up her second double of the game to get Banta to third. McDonnell reached on an error for the second time to score Banta. The second out by Bupp's sacrifice fly sent Krolczyk home for a 9-3 advantage.

Each team scored in the seventh inning, but the Lions held on for the conference win. Rachel Miller (North East, PA/North East) struck out four and allowed seven hits on her way to the victory in the circle.

In game two, La Roche scored four runs with two outs in the bottom of the seventh to erase a 5-2 deficit and defeat the Lions, 6-5.

All of Bupp's three hits were extra base in the nightcap. She tallied two doubles and a triple to get Behrend on the board in the first, third and fifth innings.

In the first frame, Blagg doubled to left field and McDonnell drove her in with a single to center field. Bupp then tripled to get McDonnell home for a 2-0 lead.

The Redhawks tied it in the bottom of the frame at 2-all. Three hits produced two runs in the third for the Lions thanks to Bupp's double and Julia Luke's (Waterford, PA/Fort LeBoeuf) single for a 4-2 edge.

A single run in the fifth made it 5-2, but La Roche's seventh-inning rally saw four runs on two hits with three errors for the split.

Bupp pitched for Behrend, striking out three and only surrendering three earned runs.

The Lions return to action on Wednesday against Medaille. The doubleheader begins at 3 p.m.