MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. - After weather canceled all games the day prior, Penn State Harrisburg's softball team swept its pair of contests in South Carolina on Wednesday, March 12. The Lions rallied to earn a thrilling 5-3 walk-off victory over Covenant in the opener before using a big inning to defeat Brevard in the second game of the day.
Madisen Minney played the hero in game one, hitting a walk-off, two-run home run in the bottom of the seventh to lift Penn State Harrisburg (2-1) over Covenant. Madelyn Lehigh had two hits, including a triple, while Aspen Walker, Mackenzie Fisher and Sierra Sims each drove in runs. Kylee Miller threw five innings before Kierstyn Smith entered in relief and earned the win.
The Scots (9-12) struck first in the top of the opening frame but the Lions answered back in the bottom half, pulling even when Walker's two-out double to right field drove in Minney from second base. Covenant went back in front in the top of the fifth but Penn State Harrisburg again responded in the bottom half when Sims drove in Aleisa Rowe with a two-out single to center field that tied things at 2-2.
Covenant took the lead for the third time thanks to a lead-off home run in the top of the seventh but Lehigh got the rally started in the bottom half when she tripled to center field. Fisher's ensuing RBI single up the middle plated Lehigh to erase the deficit and Minney put an exclamation point on the victory with one swing, as her first collegiate home run cleared the fence in center field and sent the Penn State Harrisburg dugout into a celebratory frenzy.
In the win over Brevard, Lehigh drove in two runs and scored another, Smith had a multi-hit game and Emily Cutman tallied a pair of RBIs. Carissa Yeager got the start and allowed just two runs in five innings thrown, while Miller earned the save after throwing the final two innings and allowing just one baserunner.
The Tornados (3-7) jumped out to an early 2-0 lead in the top of the first but the Lions (3-1) answered with a massive second-inning effort, posting five runs on six hits and a walk. After a Sierra Sims walk, Smith and Cutman used back-to-back doubles to tie things up. Lehigh gave Penn State Harrisburg a lead it wouldn't relinquish with a single to center field that plated Cutman and Rowe and Minney tacked on an insurance run with a two-out squeeze bunt that scored Lehigh from third base.
Yeager worked out of trouble with a bases-loaded, inning-ending strikeout in the top of the third before retiring Brevard 1-2-3 in the fourth. In the sixth, Miller entered in relief and got out of another bases-loaded jam to preserve the three-run lead after five and a half innings. She closed things out by emphatically striking out the side in the top of the seventh.
NOTABLES
- The Lions racked up five extra-base hits on the day.
- Lehigh went 3-for-6 across both games with a triple, a walk, two RBIs and two runs scored.
- In two games, Minney was 2-for-5 with a home run, a walk, three RBIs and a pair of runs scored.
- After earning the win inside the circle in the first outing, Smith was 2-for-3 with a double and a run scored in game two.
- Miller threw seven total innings on the day, earning the save in the nightcap and tallying seven strikeouts.
- Yeager earned her first win of the spring in game two, allowing just two runs in five innings to go along with a pair of strikeouts.
WHO'S NEXT?
The Lions wrap up their spring break competition with a doubleheader against FDU-Florham and Thiel on Thursday morning.
STAY CONNECTED
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