ERIE, Pa. – After dropping their first two Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference (AMCC) contests, the Penn State Behrend softball team has won 12 straight conference games with recent 7-2 and 4-0 victories over Mt. Aloysius on Sunday.
The Lions (20-10, 12-2 AMCC), winners in 15 of their last 16 games, have moved into a tie for first place in the AMCC with Penn State Altoona and D'Youville. Shannon McDonnell (Fayston, VT/Harwood Union) went 6-for-7 with six RBIs combined, while Sarah Blagg (Cranberry Township, PA/Seneca Valley) went 4-for-4 with two runs in game one.
Rachel Miller (North East, PA/North East) pitched six innings and gave up one earned run for ninth win in the circle. She also struck out five to move her into a tie for third place in career strikeouts with 227.
Behrend scored seven runs on 12 hits in the opener, beginning with a pair of runs in the first inning thanks to a double by McDonnell to score Blagg and AJ Nichols (Pittsburgh, PA/Shaler) for a 2-0 lead.
The Mounties (18-17, 9-5 AMCC) added a run in the second to get within a run after two. It took five singles in the fifth to plate three more runs for a 5-1 advantage.
Each team added runs in the sixth, starting with the Lions. Miller singled and Carson Hauser (Westfield, NY/Westfield Academy) reached on an error. Miller scored on a sacrifice fly by Nichols and McDonnell drove in Hauser with her second double of the day for a 7-1 lead.
Mt. Aloysius tallied another run with two outs and two hits in the bottom of the sixth for the 7-2 final.
In game two, McDonnell and Alexa Bupp (Warren, PA/Warren) each posted two hits and Nichols was successful in the circle for her seventh win to help Behrend sweep the Mounties. Nichols pitched five and two thirds innings and struck out six, before Bupp finished the game and struck out four.
The Lions relied on McDonnell's sacrifice fly in the top of the first to take a 1-0 lead. The final three runs of the nightcap came in the fifth. Blagg was hit by a pitch and moved to second on a ground out. McDonnell singles to score Blagg and then reached home on the following double by Bupp. With two outs, Julie Luke (Waterford, PA/Fort LeBoeuf) flied out to center field to score Bupp for the 4-0 win.
Behrend returns to action on Wednesday at Medaille. Game times are 3 and 5 p.m.
