McKeesport, PA. – After a 0-4 stretch against PSU-Beaver over the weekend, the Penn State Greater Allegheny Softball Team (9-8, 7-5) is looking to get back on track when they take on Penn State DuBois (3-11-1, 3-9-1) on Wednesday at 6 p.m. PSUGA currently sits in third place in the Penn State University Athletic Conference West Division Standings as the playoff race comes down to the final week of the season.
It was a rough weekend for PSUGA as they combined to go 1-5 through their six games against PSU-Fayette and PSU-Beaver. Their lone win came in an impressive performance against PSU-Fayette on Thursday where the ladies picked up a 7-3 win. Lacie Lautner (Pleasant Hills, PA./Thomas Jefferson) pitched her best game of the season giving up three runs, two earned in seven innings of work.
Lautner struck out a career high 13 batters in the contest and the win moved her to a perfect 7-0 on the season. Lautner has been the driving force on this team both on the mound and at the plate having the highest batting average on the team, .380, and the lowest ERA sitting at 3.70. Lautner is currently fifth in the PSUAC with 47 strikeouts and the 2017 PSUAC pitcher of the year is having yet another strong campaign in 2018.
After starting the weekend on a high note, PSUGA’s luck took a turn as they lost five straight games including a four-game sweep at the hands of PSU-Beaver. They were able to score a lot of runs putting up a combined 14 runs between the five games, however, they gave up 42 runs over that same stretch.
Tara Love (Chandler, AZ./Campo Verde HS) found her way at the plate hitting .400 (6-15) with two RBI and two doubles. After hitting just .130 through her first 10 games, Love was able to find her groove reaching base on a consistent basis for her team. The Chandler, Arizona native has been a force on the mound and is now finding the offense that she was lacking early in the year.
Despite going 1-5 over the weekend, PSUGA still finds themselves in the thick of the playoff race holding on to the third spot in the PSUAC West. With three of their next four doubleheaders coming against the bottom two teams in the Division, PSUGA will be looking to rack up some wins and secure their place in the PSUAC Playoffs for the first time since the 2014 season and only the second time since 2008.
PSU-DuBois is coming off of a series with PSU-Mont Alto that saw them go 1-3 in the four-game series. Their lone win came on a 16-0 win in the first game of Saturday’s doubleheader. Laura Fatula was the leader offensively for DuBois hitting .642 (9-14) with 6 RBI between the four games.
PSUGA has had full control of the season series against DuBois in 2018 winning the first two games by scores of 15-7 and 18-11 back on March 30th. PSUGA is a perfect 6-0 against PSU-DuBois since the 2010 season, however, four of those wins came last season via forfeits.
First pitch for Wednesday’s doubleheader is scheduled for 6 p.m. at Penn State DuBois. Game two is scheduled to start right after game one at around 8 p.m. With PSUGA holding just a one game lead over fourth place Mont Alto, they control their own destiny over the final week of the season.
