Penn State Scranton Softball Sweeps Home Doubleheader over Word of Life 

By: Ross Turetsky, Penn State Scranton Athletics 

On a picture perfect spring Tuesday afternoon in the electric city, the hometown Penn State Scranton Lions softball squad snapped their seven game losing streak by sweeping both ends of their doubleheader against non-conference foe Word of Life by the scores of 16-0 and 24-2 respectively. With these pair of victories, their first ones on home turf, the Lions from Scranton improved their overall record to 5-10 and their all-important conference mark stays at 0-4 heading into a busy weekend of crucial league play matchups. 

In the game one five inning affair, Scranton scored early and often, as they tallied a whopping eight runs in the bottom half of the first inning, five more in the second, and a three spot in the fourth frame, as they cruised to their dominant 16 run triumph. Scranton and Word of Life each had five hits apiece in the contest, but the Lions reached base via the walk a robust 18 times that spurred their prolific offensive performance on.  

Scranton had one player put up a stellar multi-hit game, as junior slugging shortstop Kathryn Lahey went 2-3 at the plate, drilling two doubles, had a game-high four RBI, walked once, and scored a run. The Lions other base knocks came from sophomore Olivia Shimonis who hammered a double, drove in a trio of runs, walked once, and scored twice, senior second baseman Sam Collins had a hit, drove in a pair, walked twice, swiped a bag, and scored once, and lastly, freshman third baseman Rachel Murray was 1-2, scored a run, stole a base, walked once, and picked up an RBI during the festivities.  

Word of Life was led on offense by freshman second baseman Amanda Buck's stalwart multi-hit showing, as she went a perfect 2-2 at the dish. The road warriors other hits came from freshman Chloe Bethea, senior Cassie Cragg, and freshman Kayli Hayden who each had one base knock apiece. 

On the pitching side of things, ace hurler Shimonis earned the complete game shutout victory on the mound, as she tossed all five innings, without allowing a run or walk, surrendering just five hits, and fanned four batters in her dominant outing. Meanwhile, Word of Life had Cragg toe the slab first, as she threw the opening three innings and picked up the loss on the bump, allowing 13 earned runs, 16 walks, two hits, and struck out a hat trick of Scranton hitters. Finally, sophomore right-hander Madeline Rodenberger came in relief out of the bullpen and pitched the final inning for her ball club, allowing three earned runs, a trio of hits, a pair of bases on balls, and struck out a batter in her appearance.  

In the game two nightcap five inning affair, Scranton once again slugged their way to a big runaway victory, as they put up a huge 10 run first inning, a three spot in the bottom of the second, another massive 10 runs in the third, and one more for good measure in the fourth frame to close out their whopping 22 run triumph. As for Word of Life, they scored once in the top of the first inning and one more time in the fifth and final frame to account for their pair of runs in the contest. The Lions out hit their opponent by an incredible 16-6 margin in the showdown and reached base via the walk seven times. 

The Lions from Scranton had a quartet of players put up multi-hit performances in the second ball game, as Lahey, Shimonis, Murray, and freshman basketball and softball star Megan Gatto set the pace for their team. Lahey was a flawless 4-4 at the plate, with a trio of RBI, two runs scored, and stole a pair of bases. Shimonis was a stand-out 4-5 at the dish, smashing a double, driving in a game-high seven runs, and scored a run to boot. Murray went a perfect 3-3 in the battle, drilling a double, scored three times, and had five RBI. Gatto was 3-4, cranking a double, stole two bases, walked once, scored four runs, and collected an RBI. The Lions other two base knocks came from sophomore left fielder Maria Keifer who went 1-3, scored a game-high five runs, drove in a pair, walked twice, and swiped a bag, and sophomore catcher Ashlyn McNally was 1-4, scoring three runs, and knocking in a trio. 

Word of Life had one player with a multi-hit game, as Cragg went 2-3 at the dish, with a double, and scored a run. The other hits came from sophomore first baseman Hannah Burk who was 1-3 and drove in both runs for her squad, freshman right fielder Molly Schutzius was 1-2, sophomore center fielder Alyssa Leipert went 1-3, and Bethea also had a 1-3 performance in the matchup.  

On the pitching side of things, Scranton once again started Shimonis on the mound and she picked up another complete game victory, as she tossed all five innings, only allowing a pair of earned runs, two walks, six hits, and fanned five batters in her outing. Meanwhile, Word of Life started Rodenberger on the bump and she pitched all four innings for her club, giving up 22 earned runs, 16 hits, seven bases on balls, and struck out a hat trick of Scranton hitters in her loss.  

Now veteran head coach Mar Tsakonas and her 5-10 Penn State Scranton softball squad will look to extend their two game winning streak when they next go on the road this Friday afternoon to face off with conference foe Penn State New Kensington in a big doubleheader, with first pitch scheduled for 2pm. Meanwhile, head coach Alyssa Webber and her 0-6 Word of Life softball team will look to capture their first win of the season when they next go on the road to take on SUNY Adirondack in a doubleheader on Tuesday, April 11th, starting at 3pm.