Softball Secures No. 1 Seed for AMCC Tournament; Lions Sweep Altoona

Softball Secures No. 1 Seed for AMCC Tournament; Lions Sweep Altoona

ERIE, Pa. - The Penn State Behrend softball team secured the No. 1 seed and hosting rights to the 2018 Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference (AMCC) Tournament with a pair of wins over Penn State Altoona on Saturday.

Celebrating senior day, Alexa Bupp (Warren, PA/Warren) registered a pair of saves in 4-1 and 3-1 victories to break the program record for most saves in a career with 11. Defensively, the Lions (28-10, 14-4 AMCC) allowed just two runs over two games while Carson Hauser (Westfield, NY/Westfield Academy) was 4-for-7 with three runs and a triple.

AJ Nichols (Pittsburgh, PA/Shaler) struck out a pair in five and a half innings of work for her 15th win in the circle. Bupp came in relief and fanned two batters for her fifth save of the season, breaking the Behrend record.

Altoona (20-15-1, 13-5 AMCC) scored in the opening inning and Behrend responded with a run in its at-bat to even the game at 1-all. Katie Gozzard (Pittsburgh, PA/Deer Lakes) hit a sacrifice bunt to score Hauser in the first.

Hauser then had the eventual game-winning hit with a single down right-field line to score Kristen Kargol (Saegertown, PA/Cambridge Springs) in the bottom of the fourth for a 2-1 lead. The Lions added two more runs in the fifth on an error and a single by Jillian Williams (Corry, PA/Corry) to send home Nichols for the final margin.

Behrend got out of a bases loaded situation in the top of the sixth with two outs, forcing the third out at second.

Mackenzie McIntire (Stoneboro, PA/Lakeview) also went 2-for-4 in the opener with a run.

Game two was similar to the first with limited runs scored and the Altoona Lions getting on the scoreboard first. The Lions scored three unanswered runs to complete the sweep.

McIntire had an RBI in the third and fifth inning to score Hause on both occasions, while Marissa Torretti (DuBois, PA/DuBois) scored Kendra Schreck (Emlenton, PA/Cranberry) in the fourth with a single up the middle.

Brittney Williams (Atlantic, PA/Conneaut Lake) pitched five innings for the win, giving up eight hits and one earned run. Bupp threw the final two innings and struck out two for her sixth save.

The Lions return to action on Friday at 4 p.m. for their first game of the AMCC Championships on the Behrend Diamond.