Penn State Harrisburg took on #4 Christopher Newport in a conference double header on Sunday, April 3rd. The Lions fought hard, but in the end lost both games, 11-0 and 12-4.
In game one, the Captains showed why they are the fourth ranked team in the country knocking in four runs in the 1st inning to take the 4-0 lead. The Lions could not figure out Newport's pitching as they only were able to get one hit off of the Captains starting pitcher. The Captains would tack on some insurance runs to build the lead up and would take the game in the end 11-0.
In game two, the Lions would show more fight keeping it within one run through the first 5 innings. Emily Parmer (Willow Street, Pa. / Solanco) singled in the first run in the 2nd while Rieley Loch (Madison Township, Pa. / North Pocono) would hit her first home run of the year in the 3rd to tie the game at two. After the Captains scored one in the 4th the Lions looked to take the lead in the 5th but were unable to bring the run across after having runners at 2nd and 3rd. Newport would open the game up in the 6th, scoring seven runs on four hits and four errors from the Lions to take the 10-2 lead. The Lions would not go away quietly loading the bases in the bottom of the 5th scoring two runs to close the gap to six. But another error by the Lions would allow two more runs to score, which made the final score 12-4.
Leading the way for the Lions was Amanda Hartman (Reading, Pa. / Oley Valley) who led the team on the mound pitching all but one inning striking out five on the day, along with going 2 for 6 at the plate.
The Lions will take a break from conference play as they travel to take on Juniata on Tuesday, April 5th starting at 3 PM.