FORT MYERS, Fla. – Penn State University Altoona rallied to defeat the Kenyon softball team 8-7 before the Ladies regrouped and earned a 3-1 win against Albion College on Thursday during the Gene Cusic Classic at CenturyLink Sports Complex. Kenyon moved its record to 7-1 by day's end.
GAME ONE
Kenyon's offense got off to a slow start as it was held scoreless through four. In that time, the Lions attained a 2-0 lead.
Penn State Altoona got a 1-0 advantage in the third as Meghan Marasti brought the leadoff batter, Ellie Leyo, in with a single. Leyo had started the inning reaching first after the Ladies failed to toss her out on a grounder.
The Lions moved ahead 2-0 a frame later as Jayde Burge beat out a tag at home on a fielder's choice.
Trailing for the first time all season, the Ladies responded. In the fifth,
Grace Finn and Sarah Campagna reached and
Britny Patterson followed on a 0-2 count with a two-run triple to right field. With the score tied at 2-2,
Nicole Bishay drove in
Julia Holton from third with a fly ball and later,
Emily Buckwalter and
Olivia Hurley drove in runs.
The Lions responded with a pair of runs in their next plate appearances after Sidney Lewis connected with a single up the middle. Despite that, Kenyon turned right around to attain another three-run lead.
In the sixth, Campagna roped a two-run double to left center and watched as Finn and
Kathryn Riggs scored. That pushed the score to 7-4.
Once again, though, the Lions battled back. A one-out walk was issued to Abby Showers and Marasti followed with a one-run single to bring the tally to 7-5. That prompted a pitching change from Kenyon, however, the Lions added a RBI single from Haley Giedroc to bring the score to 7-6. With all bags occupied, the game was then tied, 7-7, after a routine grounder to short was mishandled. The Lions added one more, their go-ahead eighth run, on a bases-loaded walk.
It marked the first time all season that the Ladies relinquished the lead.
In the top of the seventh, Kenyon was retired in order allowing Penn State Altoona to prevail, 8-7.
GAME TWO
Kenyon responded to its first loss with a great pitching and defensive performance against Albion.
Senior
Austen Whibley (4-0) was the driving force behind the effort. She tossed a complete game, allowed six hits, just one run, struck out five and watched as her defense collected a combined 14 groundouts and flyouts.
Up until the fifth inning, Albion placed just two in scoring position.
For the Ladies, they found all the run support needed in the fifth. A
Bella Albrecht one-out RBI single scored
Clare McMahon. Then, a Patterson grounder to short was thrown errantly and allowed Albrecht and Finn to score.
Albion's only run of the game came in the seventh as Kacy Rossi scored during a steal attempt from teammate Eryn VanderVlucht.
The Ladies have tomorrow off but will return to action on Saturday against New Jersey City University and Martin Luther College starting at 9 a.m.
