MIDDLETOWN, Pa.- Penn State Harrisburg's 2012 season came to an end on Saturday, May 5 when the Lions lost a pair of games in the second round of the North Eastern Athletic Conference (NEAC) championship tournament. With its core group of seniors out of the lineup due to the school's graduation ceremony taking place the same day, the blue and white fell to host-school Keuka, the eventual tourney champion, 13-5 in the first game before falling 5-3 in a hard-fought contest against Cazenovia later that afternoon.
One huge inning by the Storm led to the Lions' downfall in game number one. After scoring one run in the bottom of the first inning, Keuka lit up the offensive fireworks to the tune of eight runs in the second stanza. To Penn State Harrisburg's credit however, there was no letup in the team.
Freshman first-team all-conference selection Gabby Wolfe (New Milford, PA/Blue Ridge) laced an RBI single that scored sophomore Alisha House (Crownpoint, NM/Thoreau) in the top of the third. The Lions added a second run when another NEAC first-team all-conference honoree in senior Emily Pae (Harrisburg, PA/Susquehanna Township) grounded out, allowing sophomore Brittany Wesoloskie to score a few batters later. Junior Danielle Ringel (McKees Rock, PA/Sto-Rox) kept her tournament hot-streak going when her single plated Wolfe later in the inning to make the score 9-3.
The blue and white continued to chip away in the top of the fourth. Wolfe came through with another big hit when she ripped a double to centerfield that scored House. Pae singled two batters later, scoring Wolfe and cutting the deficit to four runs.
That's as close as the Lions would get however. The hometown Storm managed three hits and two runs in each of the next two innings and ended the game after five innings of play.
Wolfe had the best outing at the plate for Penn State Harrisburg, going 2-3 with two RBIs and two runs scored. Pae also fared well, going 2-3 with two runs batted in while House was 2-3 with two runs scored.
The loss forced the ladies to play another contest later that evening. After playing through three scoreless innings, the blue and white fell behind Cazenovia in the fourth inning of the second game of the day. Trailing 1-0, the Lions put together a big bottom half of the stanza.
Junior Kristyan Gates (Hanover, PA/Hanover) led off with a triple to right field and senior Jess Campbell (Beaver Falls, PA/Beaver Falls) singled her home two batters later to tie the score. Wolfe singled to left field and picked up two RBIs when pinch-runner Meghan Ackerman (Plymouth Whitemarsh, PA/Plymouth Whitemarsh) and junior Kat Bernardi (Fredericksburg, PA/Northern Lebanon) scored on the hit to give the Lions a 3-1 advantage.
Unfortunately for Penn State Harrisburg, one opposing hit plated two runs and tied the score in the top of the fifth inning. Cazenovia added one run in each of the next two innings while the blue and white were unable to get anything going offensively. After besting the Wildcats just one day earlier, the Lions' second loss on Saturday eliminated them from the conference tournament and ended their season.
Gates turned in a strong effort at the plate, going 3-4 with one run scored. Wolfe was 1-4 with a team-high two RBIs. Despite outhitting Cazenovia 10-7 and committing no errors, the Lions were unable to match the Wildcats timely situational hitting.
Penn State Harrisburg finished the year 19-22 overall and 12-8 in conference-play. Losing seven seniors to graduation, the Lions will look to key returnees Kara Boyd (Alexandria, PA/Juniata Valley), Gates and Wolfe to lead the way and continue the softball program's recent success next spring.