SWEET BRIAR, Va. - The Penn State Altoona softball team banged out 21 total hits and received stellar pitching from a pair of freshmen as it earned a doubleheader split in its season openers against Sweet Briar College Saturday.  SVC won the opener 5-4 before Altoona responded with a 7-3 victory in the nightcap.

In the opener, freshman Alanna Luzier (Frenchville, PA/Clearfield) singled and eventually scored on a passed ball as Altoona jumped ahead 1-0 in the first.  The visitors tacked on two more in the third thanks to three Sweet Briar errors, and led 3-1 after three full innings.

The Lion offense was back at it in the fourth as Callie Lyle (Brockway, PA/Brockway) singled home Luzier to make it 4-1.  That score would hold up until the bottom of the seventh when Sweet Briar belted four hits and used two Penn State Altoona miscues to steal an unthinkable 5-4 win.

Freshman Andrea Layton (Everett, PA/Everett) pitched 6 and 2/3 innings, allowing 10 hits and five runs while suffering the loss.  She struck out six batters and walked four.

Seven of the nine Altoona starters had a hit including Luzier, who went 3-for-4.

The Lions responded in the second contest, getting a complete game six-hit effort from pitcher Brittany Hoffman (Milton, PA/Milton).  Hoffman fanned eight Sweet Briar batters to earn her first collegiate win.

Offensively, Lyle went 4-for-4 as the Lions banged out 12 hits in the game.  Luzier, Kara Myers (Millheim, PA/Penns Valley), and Erin Cline (Murrysville, PA/Franklin Regional) had two hits apiece.

Altoona trailed 3-2 before a four-run fifth inning helped break the game open.  The Lions got an insurance run in the sixth and enjoyed their first win of the 2009 campaign.

Penn State Altoona (1-1) is back in action tomorrow for a doubleheader at Roanoke.