BUFFALO, NY – The No. 3 Penn State Behrend softball team defeated top-seed D'Youville 4-3 on day two of the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference (AMCC) Tournament to advance to championship game on Sunday morning.
The Lions (26-11) scored three runs in the first inning and got the eventual game winner in the third on a wild pitch to them one win away from their second straight AMCC title. Sarah Blagg (Cranberry Township, PA/Seneca Valley) and Shannon McDonnell (Fayston, VT/Harwood Union) each went 2-for-4 on the day.
Junior hurler Rachel Miller (North East, PA/North East) pitched her way to the win in 5.1 innings and three strikeouts, while Alexa Bupp (Warren, PA/Warren) picked up her third save on the season and three more strikeouts, two of which came in the bottom of the seventh to hold off the Spartans.
In the big first inning, Behrend used two hits and an error to secure a three-run lead. AJ Nichols (Pittsburgh, PA/Shaler) led off with an error, before Miller walked. Blagg then singled up the middle and advanced to second on the throw to try and get Nichols at home. The Lions got another run on McDonnell's ground out RBI to send in Miller to make it 2-0. Freshman Katie Gozzard (Pittsburgh, PA/Deer Lakes) put Behrend ahead 3-0 with a double down right-field line to score Blagg to end the inning.
D'Youville (22-12) responded with three hits in the bottom of the first, scoring on a single by Darian Evans to make it 3-1.
In the third, Blagg singled and then went to more bases on McDonnell's single to right field. She scored the eventual game-winning run on a wild pitch with no outs for a 4-1 lead.
The Spartans got within a run at 4-3 in the bottom of the fifth, thanks to Lauren DeVantier's two RBI double. D'Youville threatened in the sixth and the seventh, but Bupp was able to fan both batters for the final outs in each frame to help the Lions reach the championship game for a second year in a row.
The Lions return to action tomorrow against the winner of D'Youville and Penn State Altoona. Game begins at 10 a.m.
