Lady Lions lose, The Penn State Harrisburg Lady Lions hosted the Penn College of Technology in a double header at Penn State Harrisburg Softball Field on March 24th. The Lady Lions had picked up their first win in the last double header and really started to look like a team to be reckoned with. The Lady Lions struck first with a pair of runs in the bottom half of the first inning After the first two batters recorded outs, Emily Pae (Susquehanna Township/Har risburg, PA) got the inning going with a walk. Kinsey Cunningham (West Potomac/ Alexandria, VA), batting in the cleanup spot for the first time, made use of her opportunity by clobbering a double that scored Pae from first. Paige Zechman (Conrad Weiser/ Robesonia, PA) followed that with a seeing eye single that Penn State Harrisburg Hammers Valley Forge Christian Penn State Harrisburg came ready to play, and that was bad news for Valley Forge Christian Patriots. Dan Vignola (West Islip, NY/ West Islip) took the mound for the Nittany Lions, and he came out firing. He struck out two of the batters he faced in the first inning, en route to no hit first inning. The blue and white wasted no time getting to work in their half of the first inning. Freshman T.J Houseal (Donegal/Maytown, PA) singled to start the game and two batters later Brett Harmony (Palmyra, PA/Palmyra) drove him in with a double to put the Lions up early. The Lions were not done in the first yet, as Austin Kulp (Big Spring/Newville, PA) singled in another run later in the inning to make the score 2-0 heading into the second. That was all the help that Vignola needed as he continued to mow down the Patriots. They Patriots were able to get a hit, but that was snuffed out by a beautiful double play started by Garret Piper (Carlisle, PA/Big Spring). The Lions did some more damage in the bottom of the fourth, tacking on two more runs with RBl's from Corey Latsha(New Cumberland, PA/Cedar Cliff) and Harmony, making the score 5-0. Vignola had Cunningham and give the blue and white an early 2-0 lead. Even though pitcher Erika Sorenson (Red Land/York, PA) was able to another 1-2-3 inning in the fifth, and the Lions had another two run inning to stretch their lead to 7-0. The Nittany Lions really opened the floodgates in the home half of the sixth. Harmony doubled to start the inning, and Piper clobbered a home run that you knew was gone when it left the bat. Several hits, new pitchers and runs later the inning was over, but the score was not an insurmountable 14-0 lead for the Lions. Vignola threw a complete game five hitter for the Lions and had six strike outs. Piper and Latsha led the Lions with three RBl’s each, and Harmony led the lions in hits with three. Jon Kozak was the lone Patriot with multiple hits, going to 2-4. Game two of the double header was more of the same for the Nittany Lions ; unfortunately for the Patriots they also had more of the same.Nottobeoutdone by Vignola, Dan Lamar (Elizabethtown, PA/ Elizabethtown) came out ready to show what he had on the diamond. He faced only six batters through the first two innings and really looked comfortable out on the mound. The Lions gave their junior pitcher some insurance in the bottom half of the second. Piper got the blue and white started 15-6, recover with strike out three of the five batters that came to the plate in the 2nd inning, Penn College was still able to manufacture a run. with a single and three batters later Nick Knull (Enola, PA/Cedar Cliff) singled to drive two runs in. Kevin Bowman (Elizabethtown, PA/ Elizabethtown) later singled to score Reinaldo Mora (Orlando, FL/Freedom). Latsha (hen hit a towering double to score another run. The Lions exited the inning with six runs off of live hits, and gave Lamar all the support he needed. The fourth inning was more of the same for the blue and white. They only needed three hits to plate four more Lions, and they came out of the inning with a big 10-0 lead. The Lions tacked on three more runs in the fifth, and Lamar just got better as the game went on. He allowed only four hits in the game, and none of them were extra base hits. He struck out five batters and walked none in his complete game gem. The final score was 13-0 in favor of the Lions. Matt Umberger (Hummelstown, PA/Lower Dauphin) led the Lions with three RBl's, and the hitting was spread out as five batters registered Sorenson continued to pitch a very good game only allowing 6 hits in the first four innings, but Penn College was able to manu facture runs with good basing running and timely hitting. The Lady Lions entered the bottom of the fourth inning down 5-2, but they were able to claw back. Krystal Miranda (Bound Brook/Bound Brook, NJ) got them started with a single, and Zechman followed suit with a single of her own setting the table for sophomore Christi Renno (East Juniata/McAlister ville, PA). Renno was able to come up with a critical single that was good enough to score Miranda and a hustling multiple hits in the game. Comer, Lovero, Krause and Carment were the only Patriots to reach base. The wins move the Lions to 12-8 on the year, and 4-0 in the NEAC. Photo courtesy of Penn State Harrisburg Athletic Department Web site 9-0 win Zechman from first base. The Lady Lions closed the gap to 5-4, and trotted out to the field with some momentum. Things just didn't go right for the Li ons in the top half of the fifth inning. They could not get that elusive third out of the inning, and Penn College was able to score 4 runs with two outs and 7 runs total in the inning. The Lady Lions refused to give in as Sorenson doubled in the bot tom half of the fifth and Cun ningham followed with another double to score Sorenson. Mi randa had a third double of the inning to score Cunningham, and the Lions were able to get back to striking distance, making the score 12-6. The Lions could not get any closer however, and the final score was 15-6 in favor of Penn College. Story courtesy of Penn State Harrisburg Intercollegiate Story courtesy of Penn State Harrisburg Intercollegiate Athletics
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