SB drops pair to Grove City
For the second time in three days, the Penn State Fayette softball team stepped up to play a bigger opponent, and the Nittany Lions dropped a double header Saturday to Grove City by scores of 9-1 and 9-3.
"We're playing higher level competition to get prepared for the conference season," said first-year head coach Alex Rohlf. "There are lots of positives to take out of these games despite the scores. I think we are putting ourselves in a great position heading into our conference schedule next weekend."
Trailing 2-0 in the opener going into the bottom of the second, Fayette (0-4) got on the board to cut the GC lead in half. After Lauren Mastowski (Dawson, PA/Frazier HS) doubled to lead off the inning, Kelsey Holp (Grindstone, PA/Frazier HS) doubled her in to make the score 2-1.
GC added four runs in the third, two in the fourth and one in the fifth to close the scoring. The Nittany Lions only managed one other hit in the game, a fourth inning single by Cassidy Uphold (Grantsville, MD/Northern Garrett HS).
In the second game, the Nittany Lions fell behind 9-0 before scoring three times in the sixth. Brianna Hunt (Berlin, PA/Berlin Brothersvalley HS) had an RBI single to get Fayette on the board before Emily Conklin (Carmichaels, PA/Carmichaels HS) drove in two runs with a single of her own.
Courtney McKlveen (Ligonier, PA/Ligonier HS) and Hunt each finished with two hits, and Hunt's third inning double was the lone extra base hit in the game for Fayette, who finished with eight hits in all.
"Our bats finally started to wake up in the second game," Rohlf said. "We had a few big hits from Lauren, Kelsey and Bri to really get us going."
McKlveen went the distance in the circle in the first game and then went five innings in the second contest. Hayley White (Cumberland, MD/Allegany HS) went the last two innings of the nightcap.
"Our pitching continues to be strong despite us giving up some hits to some very talented hitting teams," Rohlf said.
The Nittany Lions continue their tough non-conference run when they head to Thiel Tuesday before opening its Pennsylvania State University Athletic Conference (PSUAC) schedule Friday at Penn State Greater Allegheny.
For more information on the Penn State softball team, go to https://www.psfathletics.com/sports/sball/index or follow the team on Instagram @fayetteathletics.