HAMBURG, NY – The Hilbert College softball team closed out the 2008 season Sunday with a double-header split with Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference (AMCC) foe Penn State Altoona. Senior pitcher Laura Stranc (West Seneca, NY/West Seneca West) earned a 9-6 victory in the opener before all nine Lions’ starters hit safely in an 8-5 win in the nightcap.

Trailing 6-2 in game one, Hilbert scored seven runs in the fifth inning and played a solid defensive game over the final two innings to get the win. Rachel Parker (Hamburg, NY/Hamburg) hit three doubles and scored two runs, and Carrie Sisson (Elma, NY/Mt. Mercy) had a pair of singles to go with three RBIs for the winners. Stranc allowed nine hits from the hill while getting one strikeout, but finished with two hits, two runs, and a pair of RBIs to help the offense.

The Lions scored three runs in the first inning supported by four more in the second to take an early lead in game two. The Hawks would answer with a run in the third and another in the fourth, but trailed 8-3 heading into their last at bat. Heather Johnson (Tonawanda, NY/Kenmore East) tried to spark a one-out rally with a two-run homer in the seventh, but the next two batters popped out to end the game. Sisson suffered the loss after two innings of work, as the Lions rolled up 17 hits in the game.

Nicolette Stimely finished six for seven on the day with three doubles and four runs scored to lead the Lions (5-29, 2-16).

Hilbert finishes the 2008 campaign with an improved 9-27 mark while their 3-15 record in the AMCC moves them into ninth place. The Hawks will lose just one senior to graduation as second-year head coach Kerry Levett will welcome back 12 scheduled returners for the 2009 season.