Box Score - Game One
Box Score - Game Two
MEADVILLE, Pa. – Seeing its first action since returning from Florida last week, Allegheny dropped a pair of games to PAC rival Bethany, 9-7 and 9-1, on Sunday at Robertson Field. Although the Gators saw their ledger slip two spots in the loss column, the two-game series wasn't without its highlights as several of the team's young stars provided a glimpse of a promising future for the Blue and Gold's storied softball program.
Rookie lead-off hitter Halea Hayden was 3-for-3 and reached base in all four at bats in the opener. She smacked a single, double, and triple during the tilt while driving home two runs. Fellow first-year Maureen Pallone finished the twin bill 4-for-7 including her first career homerun in the second inning of game two.
After failing to reach the fences in their first 10 games of the season, the Gators (3-9) authored three homeruns in Sunday's doubleheader. In addition to Pallone's solo shot in game two, sophomores Stephanie Fort and Nicole Rodi delivered bombs in the opener. For Rodi, who has been an RBI machine through the early part of the calendar, the solo shot to left marked the first four-base hit of her career.
In game one, Bethany (10-8) jumped on Allegheny with two runs in the top of the first inning. A walk ignited the Bison offense while two defensive errors proved costly as the Gators had a chance to escape the inning unscathed.
Hayden doubled to lead off the Allegheny half of the frame, later scoring on Fort's single through the box. Darian Ouzts doubled with one out in the second to set the stage for a two-run inning. Sophie Katz plated Outzs with a double down the left field line while Hayden tripled down the right field line in the ensuing at bat.
The Bison scored four runs in the top of the third to reclaim the lead behind run-scoring doubles by Liz Kletzli, Cortney Lax, and Angie Varhula. Rodi answered back with her homerun down the left field line to lead off the Gators' third, but Allegheny found itself trying to play catch-up the rest of the way.
Trailing 8-4 in the bottom of the fifth, the Gators' scored three times to claw within one. Fort provided the spark with a lead-off blast that cleared the wall in left center while Amanda Downey and Haden added RBI singles. Downey, who started on the mound in game two, logged a pair of hits in both games on Sunday. She delivered a one out single to centerfield in the seventh, but was unable to score as the Gators' were dealt a tough non-league loss.
The Bison completed the sweep in less spectacular fashion with a 9-1 win in the night cap. Although Pallone's homerun in the second sliced into a two-run lead that was fueled by three walks and an error, Bethany plated four runs in the fourth and three more in the sixth to secure the win. Bethany leading hitter Andrea Thomas went 3-for-3 with three doubles to highlight the attack while six different players accounted for the team's six RBIs. Katz, who finished the day with three hits, went 2-for-3 in the game, although Bethany pitcher Cortney Newland kept her pitch count low in a tremendous winning effort. She tossed a complete-game victory, striking out six batters while scattering eight hits.
