Penn State New Kensington Drops 7–4 Contest at Mont Alto Despite Late Surge

Penn State New Kensington Drops 7–4 Contest at Mont Alto Despite Late Surge

Mont Alto, Pa. — A late rally by the Penn State New Kensington softball team came up short on Friday afternoon, as they fell to Penn State Mont Alto by a score of 7–4 in a competitive road matchup.

After falling behind 6–0 through four innings, the Lions chipped away in the fifth thanks to back-to-back solo home runs from Piper Zufall and Linda Shepard, cutting the deficit to four. In the seventh, with the pressure on, Brookelyn Kotch delivered a clutch two-run single to left, scoring Jaiden Patterson and Shepard to bring New Kensington within three. But Mont Alto's pitching held strong, stranding the tying run on deck to secure the win.

Mont Alto struck early, pushing across two runs in the second on an RBI double from Cammble Sterner and a single by Alyssa Wiles. The home team pulled away in the fourth with a four-run inning, capped by a two-run homer off the bat of Rachel Alleman. They added one more in the sixth on a sacrifice fly by Hailey Spielman.

New Kensington's pitchers faced a steady offensive attack from Mont Alto. Starter Olivia Waldrop (3–7) took the loss after allowing five earned runs on nine hits over 3.1 innings. Kotch came on in relief and provided 2.2 innings of work, surrendering two runs on four hits.

Despite the loss, there were bright spots for New Kensington. Shepard reached base twice, hit a home run, and scored twice. Zufall added her second home run of the season, and Kotch collected two RBIs in the final frame. Defensively, the Lions turned in a clean showing aside from a lone error, and Shepard added a stolen base.

Penn State New Kensington Stats

Batting

• Hits: Kotch, Waldrop, Zufall, Shepard, Rivera Jimenez, Patterson

• Home Runs: Zufall, Shepard

• RBIs: Kotch (2), Zufall (1), Shepard (1)

• Runs Scored: Shepard (2), Patterson, Zufall

• Stolen Bases: Shepard

• Walks: Ferriola, Shepard, Rivera Jimenez, Patterson

• Strikeouts: 6

Pitching

• Olivia Waldrop (L, 3–7) – 3.1 IP, 9 H, 5 R, 5 ER, 2 BB, 0 SO, 49 pitches (30 strikes)

• Brookelyn Kotch – 2.2 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 0 SO, 43 pitches (33 strikes)

• Wild Pitches: Waldrop, Kotch

Fielding

• Error: Rivera Jimenez