Softball drops heartbreaker, swept

Lemont Furnace, PA - The Penn State Fayette softball team came close to picking up their first win of the season Saturday, but it came up a run short against Penn State Mont Alto in the nightcap of a double header.

After dropping the opener by a 15-6 score, Fayette (0-10 overall, 0-8 in Pennsylvania State University Athletic Conference play) held a 6-4 lead after five innings in the nightcap but Mont Alto (7-1, 6-0) scored twice in the sixth to tie the game and once in the seventh to win it.

Mont Alto took a 3-0 lead in the third inning with the help of two Fayette errors.  Two of the three runs were unearned.

After Mont Alto extended its lead to 4-0 in the top of the fifth, Fayette countered with its biggest inning of the season by scoring six runs to take a 6-4 lead.  The first four batters walked with the fourth bringing in Hayley White (Cumberland, MD/Allegany HS) with Fayette's first run.  Carissa Cyphert (Scottdale, PA/Southmoreland HS) scored on a wild pitch and then Lauren Mastowski (Dawson, PA/Frazier HS), Kelsey Holp (Grindstone, PA/Frazier HS) and Kylie Saltis (Mount Clare, WV/South Harrison HS) followed with RBI singles.  Holp was given credit for stealing home to score the last run of the inning.

Fayette held a two-run lead going into the sixth, but Mont Alto tied the game with two runs on three hits and an error.  Neither run was earned. 

Mont Alto pieced together three hits in the seventh with Chelsea Cover doubling in Karli Snyder with the winning run.

For the game, Mont Alto finished with 17 hits while Fayette had five but also committed four errors.

Saltis looked best for Fayette in the nightcap with two singles.

In the opener, McKenna Sas looked best for Mont Alto as she had a home run, a pair of doubles, a single and seven RBI.

Mont Alto jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first and Fayette would get no closer than one run the rest of the way as the guests added three more runs in the second, five in the third and four in the fourth.

  Lauran Minerd (Uniontown, PA/Albert Gallatin HS) led the way  for Fayette with a triple and two singles while Hope Hixon (Armagh, PA/United HS) had a single, a double and three RBI and Mastowski had two singles.

For the game, Fayette finished with nine hits and an error while Mont Alto had 10 hits and six errors.

Fayette returns to action Tuesday as it hosts Penn State New Kensington (1-1, 0-0) for a PSUAC double header.

For more on the Penn State Fayette softball team, go to https://www.psfathletics.com/sports/sball/index.