PSUGA Softball Opens Conference Play After Long Lay-off
After a long lay-off due to injuries, PSUGA Softball is back and ready to open conference play when they take on PSU-DuBois at 2 p.m. Lacie Lautner has had a hot start to the season after a successful year in her freshman season.
McKeesport, PA. – After suffering some injuries while down in Myrtle Beach, the Penn State Greater Allegheny Softball Team (2-3, 0-0) was forced to cancel some games while they healed up. However, they are back and ready to open Penn State University Athletic Conference play when they battle Penn State DuBois (0-2, 0-0) in doubleheader action starting at 2 p.m.
The ladies made their first ever trip to Myrtle Beach for spring training March 6th-9th where they played some of the toughest competition they will see all season. They proved that they have the ability to show success this season going 2-3 in the five games played at the Cal Ripken Experience.
They started off the week splitting a doubleheader with Cumberland County College and Lincoln College losing 4-1 and winning 13-4 respectively. They then got swept on day 2 falling to Lackawanna and USC Salkahatchie 14-4 and 8-1 before ending the week with a win over Grand Rapids Community College 5-0. They had one more game scheduled for that day, however, two injuries in the first game forced them to have to cancel that game ending their week.
Lacie Lautner (Pleasant Hills, Pa./Thomas Jefferson) continued her success from last season into this year as she starred not only on the mound, but at the plate as well. In two starts, she went 2-0 throwing 12 innings of work and giving up just four runs while walking one and striking out nine batters. Lautner was last year’s PSUAC Pitcher of the Year in her freshman season and is poised to make another run for the award.
While she continued her strong showing on the mound, she also starred at the plate hitting .417 (5-12) with five RBI. Her biggest game came against Lincoln College when she went 1-3 with 3 RBI to help lead her team to a 13-4 victory. With a young team surrounding her, Lautner is stepping up to become the leader on the team as they look for success.
Some of those young players who have stepped up early are Hailey Snyder (Connelsville, Pa./Connelsville HS), Ivy Mervis (Pittsburgh, Pa./Allderdice HS), and Alyssa Guzzie (Fox Chapel, Pa./Fox Chapel HS). Through her first four games, Snyder is hitting .500 (3-6) with 1 RBI and currently leads the team with four walks. She is also second on the team in on base percentage reaching at a .700 clip through her first six games.
Mervis and Guzzie are looking to help secure the outfield hitting .333 and .300 respectively. They have each driven in 1 RBI this season and Guzzie has reached base with three walks through her first six games. Guzzie, Snyder, Mervis, and the rest of the freshman on this team are looking to build a strong foundation for the future.
PSU-DuBois enters Friday’s contest looking for some momentum as they currently sit at 0-2 dropping both halves of a doubleheader to Carlow back on March 17th. Laura Fatula has been their leader so far going 3-5 in that doubleheader with all three hits coming in game two where her team lost 18-7. They will get a chance to gain some more momentum on Thursday when they battle Westmoreland County CC before taking on PSUGA on Friday.
Friday will be the first official meeting between these two teams since the 2010-2011 season. They were scheduled to play four contests in the 2016-2017 season, however, PSU-DuBois would end up forfeiting all four of those games to end the season sending PSUGA into the off-season on a six-game winning streak.
First pitch for Friday’s doubleheader is scheduled for 2 p.m. followed by game two at 4 p.m. on the campus of PSU-DuBois.