BUFFALO, NY – Sophomore Julie Luke (Waterford, PA/Fort LeBoeuf) hit a walk-off single in the bottom of the 13th inning to score sophomore Amanda Krolczyk (Union City, PA/Waterford) for the game-winning run to help Penn State Behrend capture the 2015 AMCC (Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference) Championship over D'Youville 3-2 on Sunday afternoon.
In true championship fashion and after 13 innings pitched by top two hurlers in the AMCC, Rachel Miller (North East, PA/North East) and the Spartans ace Kalie McHenry, the Lions (24-14) rallied with two runs on four hits in the bottom of the frame to win the conference title for the first time since 2012.
Behrend receives the AMCC's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament and will find out opponent and location on Monday.
The Lions knew heading into today's championship game they would need to defeat D'Youville twice on its home field to capture the AMCC crown, and they did.
Behrend posted a 2-1 victory in game one thanks to a pair of runs in the sixth inning and holding the Spartans to a single run in the bottom of the frame.
Miller bunted to get on first and Sarah Blagg (Cranberry Township, PA/Seneca Valley) reached on an error. Allania Banta (Waterford, PA/Fort LeBoeuf) knocked in Miller off third with a sacrifice fly, before Blagg scored on a single up the middle from Shannon McDonnell (Fayston, VA/Harwood Union).
Miller pitched both games. She threw four innings in the first and allowed five hits with no runs and Alexa Bupp (Warren, PA/Warren) picked up the win in three innings of work and two strike outs.
Miller returned in the true championship game to go all 13 innings for her 14th win. Behrend got the first run in the opening inning and would not score again until the dramatic extra inning.
Similar to the sixth inning in the first game, the Lions used a hit and an error to get two runners on base with no outs. Blagg singled through the left side and this time Banta reached on an error. Krolczyk got the sacrifice to advance the runners and McDonnell followed with the sacrifice fly to send in Blagg for a 1-0 lead.
The Spartans tied it up in the fifth inning with a run off a wild pitch for a 1-all game.
Seven scoreless innings went by with just a total of five hits by both teams until the 13th inning. D'Youville scored first on an RBI single by MacKenzie Kehlenbeck for a 2-1 edge.
Luke waited for the right time to get her first hit of the game in the bottom of the 13th frame. Both Banta and Krolczyk singled to start. McDonnell gets the third straight hit with a single to right field to send Banta home to make it 2-all. Bupp walks to load the bases and Luke singles through the left side to bring Krolczyk off third for her only run of the day and the game winner.
Krolczyk went 4-for-8 on the day, while McDonnell drove in three runs on two hits.
The Lions' offense smacked 11 hits in game two, while the defense was flawless with no errors.
