Penn State Scranton Softball Drops Home Conference Doubleheader to Fayette

By: Ross Turetsky, Penn State Scranton Athletics

On a warm Saturday afternoon in the electric city, the Penn State Scranton Lady Lions softball squad lost both ends of their home conference doubleheader to Penn State Fayette by the scores of 14-1 and 23-2 respectively. With the losses Scranton sees their overall record stand at 0-20 and 0-14 in the all-important league play. Meanwhile, the road warriors from Fayette with these two wins snapped a mini two game losing streak and saw their overall record improve to 10-14 and 6-10 in conference matchups.

In game one, Fayette put on a powerful offensive display, as they combined for 21 hits, 14 runs, and had seven players put up stalwart multi-hit performances, as they scored five in the first inning, seven in the third, and two more in the fifth and final frame. Freshman shortstop Sammi McGhee went 2-4 and scored a pair of runs. Sophomore Courtney McKlveen had a 2-4 game, scoring a run and picking up an RBI. Junior left fielder Cassidy Uphold went 3-4, with a run and an RBI. Senior third baseman Lauren Mastowski was 2-4, scoring a run and driving in one. Freshman catcher Brianna Hunt went 3-4, scoring a trio of runs, and had an RBI. Junior center fielder Lauran Minerd was 3-4, scoring three times, to go along with her RBI. Last but certainly not least, senior second baseman Kelsey Holp was a perfect 4-4 at the plate, scoring twice, and drove in two runs.

Meanwhile, Scranton put up their lone run in the bottom half of the first inning when freshman catcher Alicia Gagner reached base via the walk and would come around to score when sophomore Gabby Judge drove her in with an RBI groundout to second base to cut the deficit to 5-1. Overall the Lady Lions had three hits and two walks in the ball game, as senior center fielder Danielle Powell, freshman Olivia Shimonis, and Judge all hammered singles in the contest, and to go along with Gagner's walk, sophomore shortstop Cindy Perricone also drew a walk. Judge was her team's player of the game, as she hit the ball well and made numerous smooth plays in the field on defense.

On the pitching side of things, Fayette's sophomore right-handed hurler McKlveen shined bright, as she picked up the complete game victory, as she threw all five innings, only allowing one earned run, two walks, three hits, and striking out five Scranton batters on the day. As for Scranton, their freshman pitcher Shimonis threw all five innings for her ball club in the gritty effort.

In the nightcap game two, Fayette's offense continued to click on all cylinders, as they totaled 23 runs, 24 hits, and had six players with multi-hit showings, as they scored eight times in the first inning, seven in the second, four more in the third, one in the fourth, and three runs in the top half of the fifth and final frame. McGhee went 3-5, scoring a trio of runs, and driving home three more. McKlveen was 3-5 as well, scoring a game-high four runs, and picked up three RBI. Uphold had a 2-4 performance, with a hat trick of runs, and a pair of RBI. Mastrowski was a perfect 5-5 at the plate, scoring three runs, and had two RBI. Hunt was 4-5, with a pair of runs, and three RBI. Last but certainly not least, Minerd went 4-5, scoring three runs, and had three RBI in the contest.

Scranton's total offensive production in game two came in the very first inning, as all five of their team hits and their two runs scored came in the opening frame. Gagner crushed a single to left, Shimonis hammered a single to left as well, Perricone hit a single up the middle, Judge hit an RBI infield single to drive home Gagner for her team's first run of the contest, and finally freshman third baseman Desiree Peters drove home her squad's second run of the game, as she hit an RBI infield single to drive home Shimonis to cut the deficit to 8-2.

As for the pitching in the nightcap, Fayette's junior right-hander Hayley White threw a complete game winning gem, as she threw all five innings, surrendering just five hits, two earned runs, no walks, and fanning seven Scranton batters in the showdown. Meanwhile, toeing the rubber for Scranton, Shimonis would start once again on the mound and pitch the first three innings in the ball game before Perricone came in relief to throw the final two innings and give up just three earned runs, five hits, and struck out a batter as well.

Now veteran head coach Mar Tsakonas and her Scranton Lions ball club will look to bounce back and pick up their first win of the season this Monday, April 25^th, when they host a doubleheader against local conference rival Penn State Hazleton to wrap up their home regular season schedule with a 2:30pm first pitch. Meanwhile, head coach Alex Rohlf and his Penn State Fayette squad will look to continue their winning ways when they wrap up their regular season on Monday with a home conference doubleheader against Penn State Du Bois at 2pm.