Bats Spark Roaring Lions Sweep of Penn State Greater Allegheny
April 16, 2012
HOPWOOD, Pa. - Penn State Fayette softball used 11 hits in each game of a Pennsylvania State University Athletic Conference doubleheader against Penn State Greater Allegheny en route to wins of 11-2 and 7-4 at William Buehner Sr. Field at Hutchinson Park on Monday evening.
The Roaring Lions (10-12, 6-4 PSUAC) plated runs in each of the first eight innings they played, including the first four of each game, as Fayette forced the eight-run rule in the opener with innings of three, two, four and two runs. The Roaring Lions opened up game two with runs in the first four innings, including two in the first and three in the third.
Freshman Moriah Kromer (Mount Pleasant, Pa.) picked up the win in game one, allowing only two runs, both in the first inning. Freshman Jessica Stairs (Mount Pleasant, Pa.) added a win in game two, despite falling behind 3-0 in the first, but escaped a bases loaded jam in the top of the seventh to finish the complete game win.
Freshman Shelby Dziak (Eighty Four, Pa.), sophomore Paige McWilliams (Connellsville, Pa.) and Stairs had four hits apiece on the night, leading the Roaring Lions offensive attack.
GAME ONE: Penn State Fayette 11, Penn State Greater Allegheny 2 (5 innings)
Fayette fell behind early in the opener, as Greater Allegheny pushed across two runs on a single from Colleen Kuplast for a 2-0 lead. But Kromer settled in to strike out the side in the first and let the bats go to work.
Dziak tripled down the right field line to lead-off for the Roaring Lions, and after Kromer reached on a fielder's choice, Stairs added an RBI groundout. Sophomore Stephanie Longo (Point Marion, Pa.) hit a sacrifice fly to center before freshman Stacey Riggar (Uniontown, Pa.) singled and senior Elizabeth D'Auria (Connellsville, Pa.) walked. McWilliams gave Fayette the lead with an RBI single and the Roaring Lions would not trail again.
Kromer set the Lions down in order over the next two innings, while her teammates piled on six more runs. Stairs added an RBI single in the second and Kromer scored on a wild pitch to give Fayette a 5-2 lead. Kromer singled home a run in the third before Stairs added her third and fourth RBIs with a two-run single through the left side and an 8-2 lead. An RBI groundout by Longo added to the Fayette lead, and despite two hits from Greater Allegheny in both the fourth and fifth innings, Kromer escaped unscathed.
Dziak's RBI single in the fourth gave Fayette an 11-2 lead and help invoke the eight-run mercy rule after Kromer shut down the Lions in the top of the fifth.
Kromer finished the win with five innings, giving up eight hits and striking out seven. Kromer remained under control, walking no one in the shortened complete game effort.
Each of the first three batter for Fayette had at least two hits amd an RBI in the opener, as Dziak was 3-for-3, scoring three runs and knocking in one. Kromer added two hits and an RBI, scoring three times, while Stairs went 2-for-4 with four RBIs.
Kuplast finished 2-for-2, while Samantha Segiel and Taylor McCallister added two hits apiece for the Lions. Kristen Popp took the loss for Greater Allegheny, giving up 11 runs on 11 hits and five walks, striking out one.
GAME TWO: Penn State Fayette 7, Penn State Greater Allegheny 4
Fayette fell behind again early in the nightcap, this time 3-0 in the first. But the Roaring Lions answered with two of their own the bottom of the inning.
Dziak led off with another extra-base hit, this time a double to left field. Dziak and Kromer would both come around to score on a two-run double by Stairs to make the score 3-2.
After giving up three free passes in the first inning, Stairs calmed down on the mound and gave up only one more run to Greater Allegheny, in the second inning on an RBI single to center by Kuplast.
Again the Roaring Lions would answer, as Dziak came around to score on an RBI double down the left field line from Kromer to make it 4-3.
Greater Allegheny would go down in order in the third, and Fayette would capitalize and take the lead with three runs of their own and a 6-4 lead. McWilliams started the scoring with an infield RBI single, and freshman Kaytee Cumberland (Leisenring, Pa.) followed with a two-run single to left field to open up the lead.
Fayette added a run in the fourth on an RBI single from Riggar, and Greater Allegheny went scoreless the rest of the way, but not without threatening in the seventh. A single and a walk were followed by a fielder's choice, as D'Auria tagged third on a ground ball for the first out. After a passed ball advanced both runners a base, Stairs got a strikeout but walked the next batter to load the bases. But Stairs struck out the next hitter, earning the complete game win.
Stairs gave up four runs, three earned, on seven hits, striking out seven and walking five. Kuplast took the loss for Greater Allegheny, giving up seven runs on 11 hits.
Seven Fayette batters had hits, and Longo, McWilliams, Riggar and Stairs each had two-hit games, and Stairs added two RBIs. Dziak and Kromer scored two runs apiece for the Roaring Lions.
Fayette returns to PSUAC action on Thursday, April 19 at Penn State New Kensington.