Scranton Lions Softball Captures First Conference Wins of the Season

By: Ross Turetsky, Penn State Scranton Athletics

On a beautiful Friday afternoon in the electric city, the hometown Penn State Scranton Lions softball squad snapped their five game losing skid and won their first conference contests of the year with a nail-biter 2-1 triumph over local rival Penn State Hazleton in the opening battle and 9-5 in the nightcap. With these impressive pair of victories, Scranton improves their overall record to 3-11 and they are all knotted up at 2-2 in their crucial league play schedule so far this season.

In game one, the road warriors from Hazleton jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the top half of the first inning before the Lions from Scranton roared right back and tallied a run in the bottom of the third to tie things up at 1-1 and then in the seventh and final frame plated the walk-off game winning run to seize their hard fought one run, 2-1, triumph by contest's end. Scranton also out hit Hazleton in the showdown by a 5-3 margin.

On the offensive attack, Scranton had hits from sophomore pitcher Aryanna Bodge, sophomore shortstop Madison Kelsch, sophomore catcher Genevieve Moyles, sophomore first baseman Kaleena Lukasewicz, and senior left fielder Kathryn Lahey. For their two big RBI in the match, Bodge tied things up in the bottom of the third with her impactful double to left center to drive in Lahey, and for their winning walk-off hit, Lukasewicz came up huge in the clutch with her double to center field to drive home Kelsch for the victorious run.

As for Hazleton, their three base hits came off the bats of their catcher Ashley Wilson, right fielder Ella Thuringer, and first baseman Athena Matenkoski. Matenkoski drove in her team's lone run in the ball game in the very first frame with her nice RBI single to right center to bring home Wilson for the early advantage at that time to kick-off the day's scoring.

On the pitching side of things, Scranton's Bodge tossed a gem with her victorious dominant complete game effort, as she tossed all seven innings, allowing just one earned run, a trio of hits, walked just one, and fanned nine Hazleton batters. As for Hazleton, Paige Parisi toed the slab for her club in the hard luck loss, as she threw all six frames, surrendering just a pair of earned runs, five hits, and walked a couple.

In the game two nightcap, both squads tallied a pair of runs in the opening frame before Scranton's offense really came alive and scored once in the fourth, and a whopping six times in the bottom of the sixth. Hazleton would valiantly fight back and score a hat trick of runs in their seventh and final frame before their would-be comeback attempt would fall short in their 9-5 defeat to Scranton. In the contest, Scranton out hit their opponent by a 12-8 margin.

At the plate, Scranton had a trio of players put up stellar multi-hit performances, as Moyles, Bodge, and Kelsch set the pace for their squad. Moyles went a perfect 4-4 at the dish, cranking two doubles, and had an RBI. Bodge was a rock solid 3-5 at the plate, hammered a double, stole a base, and tallied a couple of runs. Kelsch was 2-4 in the battle, scored once, and knocked in three. Scranton's other three hits came off the bats of senior third baseman Olivia Shimonis, freshman first baseman Abbylynn Colleran, and Lukasewicz. Shimonis was 1-2, walked twice, scored twice, and knocked in a pair. Colleran went 1-4 and Lukasewicz was 1-3, walked once, tallied a run, and drove one in for good measure.

As for Hazleton, they had the dynamic duo of Wilson and Tiffany Brogan record stalwart multi-hit ball games, as Wilson was 2-4, smashing a double, scored twice, and had two RBI, and Brogan went a near flawless 3-4 at the dish and knocked in a pair. Hazleton's other three base hits came off the bats of their center fielder Amy Dwojewski, shortstop Jess Lepore, and third baseman Esmeralda Telles.

On the pitching side of things, Kelsch was dominant on the bump for Scranton, as she earned the commanding complete game victory, tossing all seven frames, giving up just a couple of earned runs, eight hits, walked a trio, and struck out an awe-inspiring 13 Hazleton batters during the festivities. Meanwhile, Hazleton had Brogan start on the mound and she allowed six earned runs in her five innings of hard work, giving up 10 hits, walked a quartet of batters, and fanned six Scranton hitters in her gritty performance. Stefania Mancini finished things up for her Hazleton club, throwing the last inning of the contest, allowing one unearned run, two hits, and walked one.

Now veteran Penn State Scranton Lions softball head coach Mar Tsakonas and her 3-11 squad will look to extend their winning streak to three straight games when they next host local non-conference foe the Keystone College Giants this Monday afternoon in a doubleheader, with first pitch scheduled for a 3pm start time.