BEHREND, HILBERT REMAIN UNDEFEATED AFTER DAY 1 OF SOFTBALL CHAMPIONSHIP

Top seed Penn State Behrend and sixth seed Hilbert College both finished day one of the AMCC Softball Championship with unblemished records. With a bye in the first round, Penn State Behrend went 1-0. Hilbert not only secured their first postseason win in program history, but went 2-0 on the day, earning upset victories over the second and third seeds in the tournament. 

Game 1: #6 Hilbert d. #3 Mount Aloysius, 2-0
In Hilbert's first post season game in six years, the Hawks earned the program's first playoff victory with a 2-0 win over Mount Aloysius.
 
Freshman pitcher Kailey Stolowski was dominant in her first career postseason game, getting it done at the plate and in the circle. Stolowski pitched all seven innings for the Hawks, shutting out the Mounties while allowing just one hit and striking out seven batters. At the plate, she provided the only two RBIs of the game for Hilbert on a fourth inning sacrifice fly that scored Alana Yadov, and a sixth inning single that brought Avery Cusack home.
 
Hilbert got hits from seven different players in the contest, with Yadov leading the way with a pair, including the team's lone double. Samantha Heppel also reached base twice for the Hawks with a second inning walk and a fourth inning single.


Game 2: #5 Pitt-Greensburg d. #4 Penn State Altoona, 3-1
The fifth-seeded Pitt-Greensburg softball team earned a win in their first game of the 2024 AMCC Tournament, getting the 3-1 upset win over #4 Penn State Altoona. The Bobcats defeated the Lions behind a strong pitching performance by junior Melanie Mienke.Mienke threw a complete game, giving up just one run (unearned) and struck out five Lion batters. The win marks the program's first AMCC Tournament win since 2012.

Hunter Taylor and Makenzie Lang each had a two hit game, while Lang drove in one of the Bobcats' three runs. Taylor had the Bobcats' lone extra base hit when she reached second base on a rope to the outfield.

Game 3: #6 Hilbert d. #2 Pitt-Bradford, 6-4
A five-run outburst in the fourth inning helped propel the Hawks to a 6-4 win and into the next round in the winner's bracket. Neither team was able to find much offense to begin this one, as a third inning infield single by Pitt-Bradford was the game's only hit through the first three innings. Hilbert's first hit of the game, an Emma Gionta single in the top of the fourth, sparked a massive inning to give the Hawks control of the game. Samantha Heppel's bases loaded walk, Victoria Hanley's RBI fielder's choice, an error, and Brooke Feliciano's two RBI single gave Hilbert a 5-0 lead.
 
The Panthers used a three-run bottom half of the fifth inning to fight back into the game and cut the Hilbert lead to just two runs heading into the final two frames. After a scoreless sixth, Alana Yadov singled to score Gionta to extend the Hawks' lead to 6-3 and give pitcher Kimberly Bentley an extra insurance run to work with in the final inning. Pitt-Bradford matched the run from the top of the inning, but two straight flyouts ended the game for the 6-4 Hilbert win.
 
Yadov and Bentley split the circle for the Hawks, with Yadov earning the win after making the start and going 4.1 innings allowing one earned run. Bentley earned her first career save with 2.2 innings pitched while allowing just one hit and one run.

Game 4: #1 Penn State Behrend d. #4 Pitt-Greensburg, 8-2
The #1 Penn State Behrend softball team defeated #5 Pitt-Greensburg Bobcats 8-2 in game four of the AMCC softball championship on Thursday afternoon. 

The Behrend Lions got ahead early with six runs in the first two innings. Maria Jones and Meghan Petitte scored the first two runs in the opening frame. Jones singled and advanced to second on a wild pitch, before scoring on Petitte's double. Sierra Williams hit a sac fly to knock in Petitte to make it 2-0. The Lions used five hits to score four runs in the second inning. Behrend got hits from Alexia Brown and Britney Shaw to get runners on. Brown scored on the second out of the inning on a RBI ground out by Jones. With two outs showing, the Lions added three more runs for a 6-0 margin. Pitt-Greensburg tacked on a run in the fourth and sixth innings. 

Abby Tingley got the win, pitching the first six innings and allowing one earned run on five hits. Kayla Lindberg closed out the final inning, striking out all three batters faced. Petitte and Kayla Salvini each registered three hits, while Williams recorded three RBI. Petitte also added three runs and two RBI.