The softball team plays a series of games at home this weekend against Marist University and St. Peter's University. (Photo by Bennett Scarborough for GoLeopards)
The softball team participated in the Penn State Invitational this past weekend at University Park, Pennsylvania, dropping all four games by mercy rule.
On Saturday, the Leopards (0-16 overall) played Canisius (6-9 overall) and Fairfield University (4-12 overall), losing the games 0-15 and 1-9, respectively. On Sunday, they played Canisius again, dropping the game 3-11, and later Penn State (12-11 overall), falling 0-13.
Canisius jumped to a quick start in the first inning, scoring a run off an RBI double. The second inning was more scoring for the Golden Griffins, as three home runs led them to their first of two 6-run innings. Two more in the top of the third gave the away team a 9-0 lead.
The fourth inning was the second 6-run period as Canisius collected four hits and capitalized on two Leopard errors. The game ended in the fifth due to the mercy rule after the Leopards failed to respond.
In the afternoon, the Leopards took on Fairfield. The Stags batted around to jump to an early 5-0 lead in the first inning.
With no runs in the second, the action picked back up in the third as the Stags picked up two and then two more in the fourth on a right-field home run. With a 9-0 lead heading into the fifth, the Maroon and White needed two runs to continue the game.
Senior outfielder Mary Grace O’Neill plated junior infielder Dani Rosner off a sacrifice fly, but the Leopards couldn’t get another across, as the game ended 9-1.
“‘Moment’s over’ is our way of letting go of what happened instead of dwelling on the little things,” freshman infielder Jocelyn O’Keeffe wrote in an email. “Every minute of our game is a new play, new at bat, new inning, so the best way for us to continue fighting is, letting it go.”
The Leopards surrendered another hot start to the Golden Griffins, as Canisius scored three runs in the first inning off an RBI double and a passed ball. They added three more in the second, securing a 6-0 lead.
The Leopards responded by scoring two in the top of the third off an RBI double from O’Neill and a sacrifice bunt from freshman infielder Emma Ahlborn.
Canisius answered with a 2-run shot in the bottom of the third inning, but the Maroon and White scored more in the fourth off an RBI groundout from senior catcher Maggie Klug to bring in sophomore infielder Katie Harrington. Three more runs from the Golden Griffins would give the home team the 8-run advantage needed for a mercy rule in the fifth.
Host Penn State was the opponent in the fourth and final game of the tournament for the Leopards. The Nittany Lions exploded for a 5-0 lead in the first inning, courtesy of an RBI triple, two RBI singles and a sacrifice fly. Penn State scored in every inning after, pushing across one in the second, three in the third and four in the fourth.
The Maroon and White were held to two lone hits from Rosner and junior infielder Kylee Sweet. After the Leopards were shut out in the top of the fifth, the game ended 13-0 in favor of the Nittany Lions.
“We have faced some challenging teams early in our season that are preparing us for conference play,” O’Keeffe wrote. “We are excited to see our growth as a team bring gains. Even through the tough games, we still kept our heads held high and fought till the end.”
The softball team will see action again on Friday in a doubleheader against Marist University (19-5 overall) at home. The Leopards will continue the weekend against St. Peter’s University (5-8 overall) in another doubleheader on Sunday at home.
Several members of the softball team did not respond to requests for comment.