Clarks Summit, Pa. – Keystone College's softball team moved back to .500 in Colonial States Athletic Conference play by sweeping a pair of games from local rival Summit University on Tuesday afternoon. The Giants, who won the opener 14-4 in six innings before posting a 20-6 win in the nightcap, improve to 13-17 overall and 8-8 in conference play while the Defenders slide to 6-22 this spring and 3-11 in the CSAC.
Emily Long (Shamokin, PA/Our Lady of Lourdes Regional) broke Keystone's single-season triples with her eight of the spring, surpassing the mark of seven that was previously set by three players: Carissa Iyoob in 2010, Karly Evan in 2002, and Susan Cook in 1988. Long is now just two triples behind Evans's all-time career mark of 12.
Game 1 Keystone took a 3-0 lead in their first at-bats of Tuesday's opener by taking advantage of two hits and two errors by the Defenders.
Katie Thompson (Nazareth, PA/Nazareth Area) scored the game's first run on an RBI groundout by Long before
Sarah Stacey (Shickshinny, PA/Lake-Lehman) game home on a sacrifice fly by
Lindsey Bucklaw (Carbondale, PA/Carbondale Area).
Antonette Scialpi (Hughestown, PA/Pittston Area) scored the Giants' third run by stealing home.
Summit got a run back in the top of the second inning, but Keystone pushed its lead to 5-1 with a pair of runs in the visitor's third as Bucklaw hit an RBI double before coming around to score on an error by the Defenders. The Giants then tacked on two more runs in the top of the fifth inning as Stacey scored on an error before
Ryleigh Fitch (Springville, PA/Tunkhannock) drove in
Kimberly Rivera (New York, NY/South Bronx Campus) with a double to give Keystone a 7-1 advantage.
The hosts cut their deficit to 7-3 with a pair of runs in the bottom of the fifth inning, but Keystone answered with seven runs on five hits to take a commanding, 14-3 lead. Long hit a bases-loaded triple, her eighth of the season, to drive in three and set a new single-season record before coming home on a sacrifice fly from Rivera. Fitch followed with an RBI triple before
Breelyn Johnson-Fite (Bogota, NJ/Bergen County Technical) hit a two-run home run.
Summit got a run back in the home sixth, but it wasn't enough to force a seventh-inning as Keystone picked up the 14-4, run-rule victory.
Alyssa Hughes (Sellersville, PA/Pennridge) notched the win in the circle, tossing a complete game and striking out six batters while allowing four runs on six hits.
Fitch and Johnson-Fite had two hits apiece while Long drove in four runs to lead Keystone, who outhit Summit 10-6 in the opener.
Alyssa Rockefeller and Stacie Brandt had two hits apiece for the Defenders, who got a complete game on the rubber from Allison Glennon in a losing effort.
Game 2 Keystone took a 2-0 lead in the first inning of Tuesday's nightcap as Long singled home Stacey before coming around to score on an RBI single off the bat of Bucklaw. The Giants made it a three-run game in the top of the second inning when Fitch took home as Johnson-Fite was thrown out while attempting to steal second.
Keystone took a 4-0 lead in the visitor's third when Long scored as Rivera reached on a fielder's choice, but Summit battled back with three runs on five hits in the bottom half of the frame to make it a one-run game. The Giants answered with five runs on three hits and two errors in the top of the fifth to open up a 9-3 advantage. Rivera hit an RBI double before Scialpi connected on a two-run single. Johnson-Fite and Scialpi then came around to score on an error by the Defenders.
The hosts pushed back with three runs on four hits and one error in the bottom of the fifth to make it a 9-6 ballgame, but Keystone got those runs back in their next at-bats at Bucklaw connected for a two-run home run before Fitch delivered an RBI double.
The Giants then put up eight runs on six hits and three errors the following inning to close out the scoring. Bucklaw and Rivera hit RBI doubles for Scialpi connected on an RBI groundout. Fitch came home on an error before Thompson recorded an RBI single. Thompson and
Kaylee Hartman (Red Bank, NJ/Red Bank Regional) came in to score the final two runs of the game on an error.
Emily Faulkner (Laceyville, PA/Wyalusing Valley) picked up the win after allowing six runs on 10 hits and striking out one batter in five innings of work before handing the ball off to Hughes, who allowed just one walk in a pair of no-hit shutout innings.
Bucklaw went 4-5 with four RBIs and three runs scored, Fitch added three hits, and Scialpi drove in three runs to lead Keystone's offense in the nightcap.
Rockefeller, Molly Comstock, and Elysia Hinkel had two hits apiece to lead Summit, who got a complete game effort in the circle from Lauren Shepherd.
Up Next Keystone will return to the diamond on Saturday afternoon with a key CSAC doubleheader against Cedar Crest College starting at 12:00 p.m. at Edmunds Field in La Plume.
