WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. – The Penn State Altoona softball team took a pair of losses on the road Saturday, when the Lions were defeated in both ends of a doubleheader with non-conference opponent Penn College at the Lycoming Valley Intermediate School field.

Penn College (9-1) blanked the Lions, 2-0, in game one, then powered past Penn State Altoona (10-8) in game two by a score of 9-2.

Game One: Penn College 2, Penn State Altoona 0

The Lions came up short in a low-scoring affair, as Penn State Altoona was blanked and limited to just three hits while allowing only two runs for Penn College.

Josselyn Nau (Bellefonte, PA/Bellefonte) made the start at pitcher and took the tough-luck loss in a complete game. The right-hander tossed six innings and allowed just two runs on six hits and a walk while striking out three batters.

Madison Kennedy (Williamsburg, PA/Central) had two of Penn State Altoona’s three hits, going 2-for-3 at the plate. Gracie Wilt (Altoona, PA/Altoona) was 1-for-2 with two walks and two stolen bases.

Penn College scored its first run in the bottom of the first, when Payton Crawford stole home as part of a double steal. The Wildcats made it 2-0 in the sixth on a Ryleigh Rinker infield RBI single.

Meanwhile, Penn State Altoona had at least one base runner in six of the game’s seven frames, but the Lions were unable to come up with key hits as Penn College held them scoreless.

Game Two: Penn College 9, Penn State Altoona 2

The Lions found a little offense early in game two, working their way out to a 2-1 lead through three-and-a-half innings. But Penn College nabbed the lead with a five-run bottom of the fourth and went on to defeat Penn State Altoona by seven.

Alexa Baney (Snow Shoe, PA/Bald Eagle) hit 2-for-4 with a double and a run scored. Riley Best (Coalport, PA/Glendale) had a hit and an RBI, Lauren Davidson (Clearfield, PA/DuBois Central Catholic) had a hit and a run scored, and Allison Beeman (Tyrone, PA/Tyrone) and Wilt also had one hit apiece.

Kennedy took the ball for game two and suffered the loss in the circle, going five innings, allowing only two earned runs, and recording one strikeout. Kendal Wadsworth (Johnstown, PA/Richland) pitched one inning in relief, giving up no earned runs.

Penn State Altoona broke through for its first run of the day in the top of the first inning, when Baney led off with a double to right and later scored on Best’s sacrifice fly to right.

Penn College struck back with a run of its own in the bottom of the second, as Harley Kunes’ RBI groundout tied the score at 1-1.

But the Lions responded by retaking the lead in the top of the fourth. With Davidson at second base and two outs, Wilt singled up the middle to advance Davidson, who scored on a throwing error during the play to give Penn State Altoona a 2-1 advantage.

But the Wildcats surged ahead with five runs in the bottom of the fourth. Sam Shaw’s sac fly to center evened the score at 2-2, before Mackenzi Tice’s two-run triple put the home team up by two. Carissa Lusk’s RBI single to right center and Sofia Mileto’s RBI triple to center expanded Penn College’s lead to 6-2.

The Wildcats grew their lead to 9-2 in the bottom of the sixth, when Mileto’s RBI single preceded RBI doubles to center from Crawford and Taylor Brown.

Penn State Altoona softball returns to the road for more non-conference play on Wednesday, March 25, traveling to face McDaniel College in a doubleheader starting at 3 p.m.