Softball Splits Pair of 9 Inning Thrillers with Waynesburg U.

Cocoa Beach, FL - The Lady Lions (3-4) split a pair of marathon contests on Wednesday against NCAA Division 3 opponent Waynesburg University (1-5). In a game dominated by pitching, the Lions battled Waynesburg to a 4-3, 9-inning win in game one. In game two, Penn State Hazleton surrendered a late lead, losing to the Yellow Jackets by a score of 11-6 in extra frames.

Game 1: Penn State Hazleton 4, Waynesburg University 3 (Final - 9 Innings) 

Stellar pitching ruled game one for both teams. Hazleton and Waynesburg traded runs in the 2nd and 3rd innings, but the game remained a stalemate at 1-1 through 7 frames. Kayla Rhome (Marysville, PA), allowed just four baserunners through the regulation 7 innings surrendering just one unearned run to the Yellow Jackets. Equally good was Waynesburg's Lindi Garies, who navigated in and out of trouble successfully forcing bonus softball to decide the winner. A single from Brandi Grunza (Carbondale, PA) put the Lions on top in the 8th but the match was squared up again on a sacrifice fly in the bottom half by Waynesburg. Sara Stauffer (Mifflinburg, PA) smashed a double in the 9th to drive home the go ahead run and Rhome drove home an insurance run later in the inning to help her own cause. The Yellow Jackets pushed one run across in the 9th on another sacrifice fly, but failed to garner any hits, losing to the Lions 4-3.

Game 2 Waynesburg University 11, Penn State Hazleton 6 (Final - 9 Innings)

Teams were held scoreless through three innings in the second matchup but the bats woke up for both teams midway through the contest. Waynesburg took and 1-0 lead in the top half of the fourth frame, and tacked on two additional runs on four hits in the fifth inning, including an RBI triple by centerfielder Emily Sorton. Hazleton responded, stringing together six singles and a 2 RBI double by Andrea Quillman (Bernville, PA) as they sent 11 batters to the plate in the bottom half of the fifth, leading to a 6-3 advantage. Hazleton's Kayla Karchner (Hazleton, PA) blanked the Yellow Jackets in the sixth inning and found herself one out from her first win of the year, but two errors and two walks in the seventh surrended the 3-run lead and forced the game into extra innings. Karchner rebounded to blank Waynesburg in the eigth but the Lions failed to break the tie on offense. In the ninth inning, the Yellow Jackets seized control of the game, scoring five runs on four hits, sealing the 11-6 victory.

Next Up: The Florida tour winds down with the Lady Lions final double-header on Thursday. Hazleton sqaures off against Ave Maria in a rematch of round 1 of the 2014 United States Collegiate Athletic Association National Softball Tournament.