Mont Alto, Pa. - The Penn State Greater Allegheny women's softball team took on Penn State Hazleton alongside Penn State Brandywine in the 2014 Penn State University Athletic Conference Softball Championship, falling in both contests 4-1 and 10-6, respectively.
Greater Allegheny saw Hazleton in game one of the PSUAC championship. Hazleton managed a run in the top of the first, putting Greater Allegheny behind 1-0. The next five innings went scoreless on both sides of the ball until Hazleton crossed home plate twice more in the top of the sixth, pushing their lead to 3-0.
Junior infielder Jordyn Holsing (Elizabeth, Pa./Elizabeth Forward), freshman outfielder Marina Rinaldi (Philadelphia, Pa./Philadelphia High School for Girls) and senior infielder Casey Naylor (Glassport, Pa./South Allegheny) singled to fill the bases in the bottom of the sixth before junior infielder Kelli Hall (McKeesport, Pa./McKeesport) walked to bring home Holsing. Hazleton added another in the top of the seventh to complete the scoring drive on the day, Hazleton ahead 4-1.
Rinaldi went 2-for-3 at the plate throught game one, boosting Greater Allegheny's efforts through seven innings. Holsing went 1-for-3 at the plate, crossing home one time. Sophomore pitcher Shelby Bendick (White Oak, Pa./McKeesport) pitched seven innings, striking out five of the 38 batters faced.
Greater Allegheny's second match-up on the day was against Brandywine in game five on Friday. Brandywine went up two in the bottom of the second inning before GA made their presence known. Sophomore infielder Ashley Lowenstein (San Jose, Calif./Presentation) tripled to left field to open the inning. Senior catcher Kasey Dansak (McKeesport, Pa./McKeesport) tripled to left center field, batting in Lowenstein. Senior pitcher Sam Segiel (North Huntingdon, Pa./Norwin) reached first on an error by the second baseman, scoring Dansak. Bendick singled to bat in Segiel, Greater Allegheny leading 3-2.
Dansak singled up the middle before reaching second on an error by the center fielder, pushing Hall home, GA ahead 4-2. Segiel, Holsing and Bendick load the bases in the top of the fifth before Hall singled to the shortstop, moving Segiel home. Brandywine managed to score six runs in the bottom of the inning, overtaking Greater Allegheny 8-5.
Brandywine added two more in the bottom of the 6th, extending their tally to ten. Bendick walked to first base to open up the top of the seventh inning before both Naylor and Hall singled and advanced a base on the throw, scoring Bendick and finishing the Greater Allegheny scoring drive at six.
Hall went 4-for-4 at the plate, scoring one run and batting two in. Bendick went 2-for-3, adding one run and batter another into score.
Greater Allegheny completed their 2013-14 regular season with a record of 14-9, 12-7 PSUAC as they appeared in their first playoff berth since the 2007-08 season.
