MONT ALTO, Pa. - New Kensington softball split a pair of games with Penn State Mont Alto Tuesday afternoon following a day of close-call contests.
Tuesday marked yet another day of close competition for Penn State New Kensington softball. The women's fantastic pitching assisted in the comeback victory that started the day on the right foot. New Kensington scored first with three runs in the first. Penn State Mont Alto answered with two.
The game went quiet until the third when Mont Alto followed up with two more runs. New Kensington, trailing by one, ran across twice in the seventh for the go-ahead run. The women held off Mont Alto for the hard-fought 5-4 victory.
New Kensington dropped their second contest of the day after consistent scoring on the part of Penn State Mont Alto. Mont Alto took an early lead with one run in the first and one run in the second. They would go on to score three more runs in the fourth as well as another two in the fifth. New Kensington was unable to respond for Mont Alto to pull away with the 7-0 win
Game 1
Andrea Eiler (Eau Claire, Pa. / Moniteau) got the start for New Kensington throwing a tremendous seven innings. Eiler let up four runs on eight hits, striking out four.
The scoring began on a passed ball that advanced Illeana Ramirez (Locke, N.Y. / Moravia Central) to third and Lianna Gonzalez (New York, N.Y. / Manhattan Hunter Science) to come home. Next, Molly Collins (Verona, Pa. / Riverview) doubled to left-center for the RBI that brought in Elliott Ferrent (Punxsutawney, Pa. / Punxsutawney). Collins would run across on a wild pitch for New Kensington to take the 3-0 lead.
Penn State Mont Alto contributed eight hits in the game, including a double to right-center that put their first points on the board. Mont Alto singled an RBI in the bottom of the first to bring the game within one.
Mont Alto doubled in the bottom of the third to tie the game before a single to left field gave them the go-ahead run. They held the advantage until the top of the seventh when Gonzalez came through on a single advancing to second on an error by left field that brought in the final two winning runs.
Eiler and Courtney Biswick (Pittsburgh, Pa. / North Hills) came home for New Kensington to take and hold the 5-4 lead. An extraordinary come-from-behind effort earned the women their third straight win.
Game 2
Illeana Ramirez took over the circle for New Kensington in game two. She threw 3.2 innings, giving up five runs on six hits. Ramirez walked four batters, striking out one. She was replaced by Andrea Eiler, throwing 2.1 innings and allowing two runs on five hits, striking out two.
Penn State Mont Alto came into the second game with a strong defense and much more consistent scoring. They reached first on an error by center field to bring in the first run of the game. Although New Kensington contributed five hits for the game, they were unable to score any runs.
Mont Alto continued scoring with a sacrifice fly RBI to right field in the bottom of the second to take the 2-0 lead. Their lead was extended on a single to shortstop for one more run.
Mont Alto singled two more times in the bottom of the fourth to take a 5-0 lead. The final runs of the game came off of a single 2 RBI to right field to finish the game 7-0. New Kensington stays at .500 in conference play.
"Just keep our heads up, don't let ourselves get down," said Molly Collins. "Just be as strong as possible out on the field. That is all you can really say once you get into the season."
New Kensington looks to continue their conference wins on Friday when they take on Penn State Schuylkill at home. First pitch is set for 2 p.m.
Written by Matt Heavner, PSNK Athletics Communications Intern
