Mont Alto Softball Falls to Penn State Brandywine in the PSUAC Championship

By: Frank Maira, Assistant Director of Athletics/Sports Information Director

DUBOIS, Pa. - The Penn State Mont Alto softball team fought its way back through the loser's bracket of the PSUAC Tournament to earn an appearance in the championship game on Tuesday. PSUMA played the No. 1 seed out of the PSUAC East Division, Penn State Brandywine who captured its sixth-straight PSUAC Championship won by an 8-0 score in five innings. 

Penn State Brandywine came out swinging in the bottom of the first frame scoring seven runs on nine hits. They forced Mont Alto starting pitcher Kirsten Dell (Hanover, Pa. / New Oxford) who was stung for six earned runs within the inning out of the game as Emily Bittinger (Waynesboro, Pa. / Waynesboro Area) tossed 3.2 innings of relief. 

Brandywine never really looked back after it's big scoring outburst as they tallied the final run of the game on a Rachel Cherubini RBI single. Rebecca Halford tossed all five innings to improve to 10-4 for Brandywine as both teams will now compete in the USCAA Small College World, which will take place May 16-20 in DuBois, Pa.  

McKenna Sas (Canyon County, Calif. / Canyon County) had a nice championship game finishing 2-for-3 with a double and a hard lined single. 

Penn State Mont Alto will enter the USCAA Small College World Series as the No. 6 seed and will play the No. 4 seed, Mississippi University for Women who will enter the tournament with a 16-12 overall record. They are slated to play on Monday, May 17 at Hiendl Field. 

At the conclusion of the PSUAC Tournament, Coach Newell was recognized as the PSUAC Coach of the Year, and the student-athletes named to the All-Conference and other End of the Season awards were recognized on the field.