Quillman & Stauffer share monster day at the dish in final home game of 2015

Hazleton, PA - The Lady Lions had a big day swinging the bat on Sunday as they played their final regular season games at home vs. Penn State University Athletic Conference opponent PSU Fayette. Four Hazleton hitters combined for seven home runs in the double header including two from Sara Stauffer and three from Andrea Quillman. Fayette battled in game one, but ultimately could not keep up with the hot Hazleton bats, losing by a score of 15-8. Game two was all Lady Lions as the belted 17 hits on their way to 17-1 victory in four innings.

Game 1: Penn State Hazleton 15, Penn State Fayette 8

Bottom 1: Brianna Grunza leads off the game for Hazleton with third home run of the season, a solo shot to left field. Quillman cashes in a run on a ground out, and a ground ball by Erin Dougherty puts the Lady Lions up 3-0.

Bottom 2: The Lady Lions increase the lead to 8-0 as they send 10 batters to the plate in inning number two. Britani Esser pounds a three run home run to cap the five run frame.

Top 3: Teri Lewis drives in Fayette's first score of the day with an RBI single to left center. Fayette picks up three hits in the inning, but strands three on base.

Bottom 3: After a Stauffer two bagger, Quillman clears the bases with a two run blast to straight away center field. Dougherty scores a third run in the inning after a errant throw to first base, to put Hazleton up 11-1.

Top 4: Fayette takes advantage of three Lady Lion miscues to push three runs across the plate. A spectacular diving play by Grunza at shortstop, ends the rally and keeps the score at 11-4.

Bottom 4: After a walk to Kaitlyn Kaluzny, Stauffer drives her first home run of the day, a two run shot, to expand the lead back to nine at 13-4.

Top 5: Five straight batters reach base for Fayette, including RBI singles from Kaytee Cumberland and Kailee Brown. Fayette adds three runs in the inning to tighten the game at 13-7.

Top 6: Stauffer comes in the relieve Rhome in the circle for Hazleton and finds herself in trouble when Fayette loads the bases on two hits and a walk. Shelby Dziak scores Fayette's eighth run on a wild pitch to make the score 13-8.

Bottom 6: Stauffer responds with her fifth hit and second bash of the game, another two run home run with Kaluzny aboard to grow the lead to a 15-8 advantage.

Behind the Box Score:

• Stauffer enjoys the number five as she collects five hits in five at-bats with a season high five RBI in game one. Stauffer adds her first career multi-home run game in the process, giving her six long balls in her last 10 games.
• Rhome pitches five innings, allowing four earned runs on nine hits to win her 12th game of the year.
• Esser goes two for four at the plate with a home run, three RBI and a run scored.
• Kaluzny earns season highs with four walks and four runs scored.
• Collectively, five home runs are a season high for Hazleton.

Game 2: Penn State Hazleton 17, Penn State Fayette 1 (Final, 4 Innings)

Bottom 1: After a walk to Briann Grunza, Kaitlyn Kaluzny lines a double to score Grunza from first base. Two batters later, Quillman sends a home run over the center field fence to put Hazleton up 3-0.

Top 2: After retiring the first five batters to start the game, Kayla Karchner surrenders a solo home run to Alyssa Strausser, cutting the lead to 3-1.

Bottom 2: Stauffer drives in a pair of runs with a double to center field. After a walk to Quillman, Dougherty lines a frozen rope single up the middle to score Stauffer and up the lead to 6-1.

Bottom 3: Eight straight Lady Lions reach base and 14 come to the plate in the third inning as Hazleton breaks the game open with a nine run inning. Kaluzny, Dougherty and Brianna Grunza each collect two RBI singles in the frame, increasing the margin to 15-1.

Bottom 4: Stauffer picks up her third double of the day to lead off the inning and with no one out, Quillman puts the mercy rule in effect following her third two-run home run of the afternoon, ending the game at 17-1.

Behind the Box Score:

• Quillman ends game two going two for two with two home runs and five RBI. The third baseman ends the regular season with school records in both categories with 14 home runs and 67 RBI.
• Karchner throws well in game two, allowing one run on three hits to pick up her fifth win of the season.
• The Lady Lions tie a season high with 17 hits collectively in game 2.
• All nine starters for Hazleton reach base and across the plate at least once.

Next Up: The Lady Lions finish the regular season with a combined record of 25-12 (13-3 PSUAC). They'll play the waiting game as other Penn State University Athletic Conference games finish up over the next two days. Once post season seeds have been awarded, the Lady Lions travel on Wednesday to State College, PA for playoff softball and look to make a run at their first PSUAC title since 2010.