Wet and Wild Upsets Drive Day One at Softball Championships

DUBOIS, Pa. - A wet day turned in a few upsets on day one of the PSUAC Softball Championship tournament. In game one of the four-game set, Penn State DuBois, the number three seed from the West, knocked off East number one Penn State Hazleton 5-4. 

Immediately following, Penn State Brandywine upset the West number one Penn State Beaver 13-1 in five innings. Brandywine later advanced to the championship game with a 3-0 win over DuBois while Beaver was eliminated by Hazleton in the loser's bracket. Hazleton will now face DuBois on Monday in a rematch of Sunday's opening game.

West #3 PSU DuBois - 5, East #1 PSU Hazleton - 4

Each team plated runs in only one inning, but they were both big innings as Hazleton jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the fourth inning. DuBois immediatly answered with five runs of their own in the top of the fifth to take the lead, and Brooke Harvey came in to close the door as DuBois pulled off their second upset of the tournament.

DuBois, who upset Penn State Fayette in the first round of the tournament last weekend, used a solid effort from Lizzy Scott in the circle as she picked up the win with 5 1/3 innings. Scott gave up only three hits, but did surrender six walks while striking out five.

Jerrika Chorba had an RBI single in the fourth for Hazleton to break the scoreless tie, then would score on a Lexi Kessler double that made it 4-0. DuBois got on the board in the fifth on a Kayleigh MacTavish single that ultimately plated three runs after an error by the right fielder. Makenzie Lukehart and Melody Young each followed with RBI doubles to make it 5-4. 

Scott would retire the side in the fifth, but walked multiple batters in the sixth before giving way to Harvey for the save. DuBois advances to the winner's bracket final that will start around approximately 7:00 p.m. Hazleton will face Beaver in an elimination game at 5:00 p.m.

East #2 PSU Brandywine - 13, West #1 PSU Beaver - 1 (5 innings)

The rain did not let up for game two as Brandywine used a three-run first inning to jump out to an early lead and never looked back as they knocked off the West number one seed Penn State Beaver. Brandywine added a run in the third and two in the fourth to lead 6-1 before exploding for seven in the fifth to end the game early with a 13-1 tally.

Arianna Segich led off the game with a home run and Alyssa Sullivan added a two-run double for a 3-0 advantage. Dina Cable put Beaver on the board with a groundout to plate a run in the second, but Beaver would only have one baserunner the rest of the way.

Cara Fabiano gave up only two hits for Brandywine, striking out three in her five-inning complete game effort. Fiona Warren and Maddie Malfara each had three hits for the victors, including a two-run homer from Malfara in the fourth.

Brandywine advances to face DuBois at approximately 7:00 p.m. in the winner's bracket final, while Beaver plays Hazleton in an elimination game.

East #1 PSU Hazleton - 10, West #1 PSU Beaver - 2 (5 innings)

A surprise match-up in the first elimination game of the weekend saw both top divisional seeds working to fend off elimination, with Hazleton advancing with a 10-2 win over Beaver. 

Beaver started hot as Michelle Cisco doubled in a run, then stole third and scored on a throwing error to make it 2-0 in the top of the first. But Hazleton quickly responded with five runs of their own as Samantha Varela singled in a run before doubles from Caitlyn Ashelman and Cassandra Passamonte made it 5-2.

Hazleton added fuel to the fire with four more runs in the second as Madison Clark singled in a run, Ashelman drove in two with a double and Jerrika Chorba doubled in Hazleton's ninth run of the night. Hazleton would go scoreless the next two innings before a Mackenzie Joy single ended the game early.

Six Beaver players had hits, but only one was for extra bases (Cisco in the first). Clark bounced back from her morning outing to pick up the win for Hazleton.

Hazleton advances to the loser's bracket final on Monday morning at 11:00 a.m., where they'll face the loser of the Brandywine-DuBois game for a chance to advance to the championship game.

East #1 PSU Brandywine - 3, West #3 PSU DuBois - 0

Our first championship contestant is settled, as Brandywine will go for their fifth straight crown. They'll have two cracks at it, as DuBois or Hazleton will need to knock them off twice on Monday to win.

Lizzy Scott took to the circle for the second time on the day for DuBois, throwing six solid innings, striking out seven and giving up only five hits. But she was outdueled by her counterpart, Brandywine's Alexandra Szpindor. Szpindor tossed a gem--seven innings with five strikeouts and scattering four hits, all singles--to put her team in the championship game.

Arianna Segich continued her strong start to the weekend, going 2-for-3 with an RBI and two runs scored. Alyssa Sullivan added two hits, while Szpindor helped her own cause with an RBI. The middle of DuBois' order--Skylar Ceprish, Samantha Satterlee and Makenzie Lukehart--collected three of their four hits, but were unable to string enough together to plate any runs.

Meanwhile, Brandywine looks to win their fifth straight conference title. The streak would tie them for the most in a row since Hazleton won five straight from 1998-2002.

DuBois gets a rematch with Hazleton, who will be looking for revenge after DuBois upset the East's top seed in the first game on Sunday.