MIDDLETOWN, Pa. – Senior shortstop Paige Zechman (Robesania, PA/Conrad Weiser) has played a lot of softball and recorded plenty of hits during her four years at Penn State Harrisburg.  None, however, were more memorable than her walk-off, RBI double in the first round of the North Eastern Athletic Conference (NEAC) championship tournament on Friday, May 4.  The Lions, the South Division's number two seed, downed Cazenovia, the North Division three seed, 6-5 in an eight-inning heart stopper.

The blue and white took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning when Emily Pae's (Harrisburg, PA/Susquehanna Township) infield single plated lead-off hitter Gabby Wolfe (New Milford, PA/Blue Ridge).

The Wildcats put together a big inning in the second, scoring three runs and taking their first lead of the afternoon. 

Penn State Harrisburg chipped away in the bottom of the stanza and cut the deficit to one run when Danielle Ringel (McKees Rock, PA/Sto-Rox) and Brittany Kringer (Hazleton, PA/Hazleton) successfully executed a double-steal while on the corner bases.  Ringel got thrown out at second but her attempt allowed Kringer to come home and bring the score to 3-2. 

The score remained the same until the bottom of the fifth when Kristyan Gates (Hanover, PA/Hanover) stroked a single that scored Kara Boyd (Alexandria, PA/Juniata Valley) from second base and tied the ballgame.

The score read 3-3 after seven stanzas and extra innings would be required to settle this one. 

The Wildcats led off the eighth and used a couple of singles, a pair of fielder's choices and a wild pitch to add two more runs to their total.  The situation wasn't ideal, but the Lions weren't ready to pack it in just yet.

Ashley Foltz (Mount Joy, PA/Elizabethtown) started the bottom of the stanza on the second base bag.  With one down, Rachael Vettori (Palmyra, PA/Palmyra) reached base by walking.  Ringel followed her by lacing a double down the left field line, plating Foltz and moving Vettori to third.  The ensuing Cazenovia error allowed Wolfe to reach first base, Ringel to advance to third and Vettori to tie the game.

Zechman stepped to the plate with an opportunity to advance her team to the tournament's winners' bracket. 

She didn't disappoint.

Kringer picked up her sixth win of the season inside the circle, surrendering eight hits and two walks to go along with her nine strikeouts. 

Ringel was 4-4 at the plate with two doubles, one RBI and one run scored.  Boyd and Gates both went 3-4 with Boyd scoring a run and Gates picking up an RBI. 

Penn State Harrisburg will now take on the tournament's host team and the North Division's number one seed, Keuka, tomorrow, Sat. May 5 in a 10 a.m. matchup.  A victory in that game would secure the Lions' spot in a Sunday morning matchup while a loss would force them to play more games Saturday evening.