ERIE, Pa. -- On Thursday, the Mount Aloysius Softball team opened up the 2023 AMCC Tournament at Penn State Behrend. The Mounties received a bye in the double-elimination tournament, then beat No. 3 Penn State Altoona, to advance in the winner's bracket.

Leaders
- Grace Gardini (York, Pa. / York Catholic) went 2-for-4, with a double, while also driving in two of the Mounties' four runs.
- Freshman Sierra Walters (East Freedom, Pa. / Claysburg-Kimmel) had another strong performance, in the circle, tossing a complete game and allowing three runs. She also struck out five batters.

How It Happened
- Penn State Altoona jumped on the Mounties from the first pitch, showing the early advantage to having already played on Thursday. With two outs and a runner on, the Lions produced four consecutive two out hits and subsequently three runs in the frame.
- Walters settled in after the top of the first inning, allowing just two hits over the final six Lion at-bats. The Mountie offense scuffled, leaving two runners on base in each of the first two innings.
- In the fourth inning, the Mounties threatened again, this time coming up big. With two outs and two runners on, still trailing 5-3, Maggie Cypher (Kittanning, Pa. / Armstrong) got the rally started with a pinch-hit double, to drive in the first run. Gardini followed her up with a game-tying double to knot the game at three. The momentum didn't stop there, as Sarah Henninger (DuBois, Pa. / DuBois) singled to drive in Gardini and take a 4-3 lead. After another hit, Whitney Cole (McDonald, Pa. / South Fayette) singled to drive in an insurance run and put the Mounties ahead, 5-3.
- Not much happened from there on, with each team picking up just one hit a piece. Walters retired the final six batters of the game to earn the victory and improve her record to 8-2 on the season.

Into the Box Score
- Mount Aloysius used 15 players, with eight of them registering at least one hit. Penn State Altoona used just nine players, having only ten players dressed, and totaled just six hits in the contest.
- A majority of the action occured in just two at-bats. Penn State Altoona scored all three runs in the first inning, then failed to score in the final six. The Mounties struck for all five of their runs in the bottom of the fourth inning and that was the difference.

Up Next
- With the win, Mount Aloysius advances to play #1-seed Penn State Behrend, on Friday, for a chance to play for the Championship on Saturday. First pitch is scheduled for approximately 1:00 p.m.
- The two teams split their regular season series, also at Penn State Behrend.
- On Friday, the first two games of the day will be elimination games, with the losers going home. The loser of the Mount Aloysius-Penn State Behrend game will not be eliminated, due to the double elimination format. See below for the tournament schedule.

Thursday, May 11
First game at 10am; subsequent games to follow 30 mins. after the conclusion of the previous game.
Game 1 - #3 Penn St. Altoona d. #6 Pitt-Greensburg, 8-0
Game 2 - #4 La Roche d. #5 Pitt-Bradford, 4-2
Game 3 - #2 Mount Aloysius d. #3 Penn St. Altoona, 5-3
Game 4 - #1 Penn St. Behrend d. #4 La Roche, 10-2

Friday, May 12
First game at 9am; subsequent games to follow 30 mins. after the conclusion of the previous game.
Game 5 - #3 Penn State Altoona vs. #5 Pitt-Bradford
Game 6 – #4 La Roche vs. #6 Pitt-Greensburg
Game 7 – #1 Penn State Behrend vs. #2 Mount Aloysius
Game 8 – Winner Game 5 vs. Winner Game 6
Game 9 – Loser Game 7 vs. Winner Game 8

Saturday, May 13
First game at 10am; Game 11 to follow 30 mins. after the conclusion of Game 10 if needed.
Game 10 – Winner Game 7 vs. Winner Game 9
Game 11 - Same as Game 10 (if first loss for loser of Game 10)