March 24th, 2009

Story by: Rhett Sheibley

MIDDLETOWN, PA - The Penn State Harrisburg Lady Lions hosted the Penn College of Technology in a double header at Penn State Harrisburg Softball Field on March 24th. The Lady Lions had picked up their first win in the last double header and really started to look like a team to be reckoned with. The Lady Lions struck first with a pair of runs in the bottom half of the first inning. After the first two batters recorded outs, Emily Pae (Susquehanna Township/Harrisburg, PA) got the inning going with a walk. Kinsey Cunningham (West Potomac/Alexandria, VA), batting in the cleanup spot for the first time, made use of her opportunity by clobbering a double that scored Pae from first. Paige Zechman (Conrad Weiser/Robesonia, PA) followed that with a seeing eye single that was good enough to score Cunningham and give the blue and white an early 2-0 lead. Even though pitcher Erika Sorenson (Red Land/York, PA) was able to strike out three of the five batters that came to the plate in the 2nd inning, Penn College was still able to manufacture a run. Sorenson continued to pitch a very good game only allowing 6 hits in the first four innings, but Penn College was able to manufacture runs with good basing running and timely hitting. The Lady Lions entered the bottom of the fourth inning down 5-2, but they were able to claw back. Krystal Miranda (Bound Brook/Bound Brook, NJ) got them started with a single, and Zechman followed suit with a single of her own setting the table for sophomoreChristi Renno (East Juniata/McAlisterville, PA). Renno was able to come up with a critical single that was good enough to score Miranda and a hustling Zechman from first base. The Lady Lions closed the gap to 5-4, and trotted out to the field with some momentum. Things just didn´t go right for the Lions in the top half of the fifth inning. They could not get that elusive third out of the inning, and Penn College was able to score 4 runs with two outs and 7 runs total in the inning. The Lady Lions refused to give in as Sorenson doubled in the bottom half of the fifth and Cunningham followed with another double to score Sorenson. Miranda had a third double of the inning to score Cunningham, and the Lions were able to get back to striking distance, making the score 12-6. The Lions could not get any closer however, and the final score was 15-6 in favor of Penn College.

I´m not sure what Coach Tonya Denglar said in between games, but the Lady Lions came out like a different team. You noticed a different swagger about the blue and white as they took the field in game 2. There was a little more chatter, a little more movement and the result was obvious. Sorenson was really feeling it in this game and didn´t allow Penn College to get anything started. Penn College was not able to send more than 4 batters to the plate in any inning, which is a tribute to Sorenson´s great pitching, and great defense by the Lady Lions. However, the Lady Lions suffered no such offensive drought. Sorenson helped her own cause by singling to start the first inning, which was followed by a walk by Pae. Zechman then hit a frozen rope through the left side of the infield scoring both Sorenson and Pae. Jessica Shuey (Lower Dauphin/Hummelstown, PA)) then singled in Zechman and the Lady Lions gave Sorenson all she needed in this one. The second inning was more of the same for the blue and white as Pae, Zechman and Miranda all came away with RBI´s. The Lions scored two more runs in the third inning, and one more run in the fourth to make the score 9-0 going into the fifth. Knowing if they were able to hold Penn College here the game would be over, Sorenson wasted no time. She took Penn College down in order and the Lady Lions got the win 9-0. This game illustrated that when the Lady Lions are playing well, they are going to be a very tough team to beat. It was a great time for the blue and white to get hot, as they open conference play on March 28th, hosting the Wildcats of Suny IT.