HUNTINGDON, Pa. – Penn State Altoona softball picked its schedule up on Thursday with a road doubleheader, as the Lions faced off against non-conference opponent Juniata College for a pair of games at the West End Field.

Juniata (7-9) got the best of the Lions in game one, blanking them by a 5-0 score. But Penn State Altoona (10-6) answered with a 4-2 victory in game two to salvage the doubleheader split.

Game One: Juniata 5, Penn State Altoona 0

The Lions got base runners throughout the game but struggled to come up with key hits, while Juniata jumped out to an early 3-0 lead in the second inning and never looked back.

Allison Beeman (Coalport, PA/Glendale) and Riley Best (Coalport, PA/Glendale) combined for four of Penn State Altoona's seven hits, as Beeman went 2-for-3 with two doubles and Best also hit 2-for-3.

Lauren Davidson (Clearfield, PA/DuBois Central Catholic), Madison Kennedy (Williamsburg, PA/Central), and Karli Storm (Chest Springs, PA/Cambria Heights) also had one hit apiece for the Lions.

Josselyn Nau (Bellefonte, PA/Bellefonte) made the start in the pitching circle and threw a complete game, going six innings while recording one strikeout.

The Eagles went up 3-0 in the bottom of the second, as Lexi Roush's RBI double to left and Dani Berlin's two-run single to right put the home team on the board. Juniata added to its lead in the fourth with a Berlin RBI single and Ashley Robuck sacrifice fly.

Meanwhile, Penn State Altoona got runners into scoring position multiple times throughout the contest, but the Lions were unable to cash in. In the first and second innings, Storm and Beeman doubled with two outs but were stranded. Davidson led off the third with a single but was later thrown out at home on a fielder's choice, and the Lions were also unable to capitalize on back-to-back hits to start the fourth. Beeman doubled again to lead off the seventh, but the Lions could not come up with a run-scoring hit and settled for a game-one shutout.

Game Two: Penn State Altoona 4, Juniata 2

The Eagles led 2-0 through two, but Penn State Altoona tied the score in the third inning, then took the lead for good in the sixth.

Kendal Wadsworth (Johnstown, PA/Richland) finished 3-for-3 at the plate with a double, three RBI, and a walk. Beeman went 2-for-3 with a walk, and Kennedy was 2-for-4 with two runs scored.

In the circle, Best got the start and finished with a no-decision after going four innings, allowing two runs, and recording one strikeout. Kennedy tossed the last three scoreless innings to record her third win of the season, yielding only one hit and striking out one batter.

Juniata got a run across in the bottom of the first on a two-out RBI double to right from Grace Hensch. The Eagles doubled their lead in the second on a run-scoring base hit to right by Eva Johnson.

Penn State Altoona came up with a big two-out hit to score its first runs of the day in the top of the third. Best was hit by a pitch with one out, and Kennedy followed with a single to left. After a strikeout, Beeman drew a walk to load the bases with two outs. Wadsworth came next, delivering a single to left that scored Best and Kennedy to knot the score at 2-2.

The score remained deadlocked until the top of the sixth, when Penn State Altoona leapt ahead. Storm led off the frame with a walk, then moved up to third on Kennedy's one-out single to right. After that, Kara Lansberry (Williamsburg, PA/Williamsburg Community) put the Lions up with her RBI single to left. One batter later, Wadsworth's RBI double to right center made it 4-2.

Kennedy and the Lions set Juniata down in order in the sixth and seventh innings to hold the fort and seal the game-two victory.

Penn State Altoona softball returns to the road this Saturday, March 21, traveling to Williamsport for a doubleheader with non-conference opponent Penn College. Game one start time is 3 p.m., moved back from the original time of 1 p.m.