| Hollee Haines |
CATHEDRAL CITY, Calif.; February 23, 2007 - Penn State dropped two games Friday at the Palm Springs Classic, including a heartbreaking 9-8 loss to UNLV, and fell to 3-3 on the year. The Nittany Lions followed up the loss to the Runnin?? Rebels with a 5-0 loss to No. 6 Oregon State in their second game of the day.
Sophomore Danielle Kinley (Carlsbad, Calif.) led the Lions?? offensive charge with three hits and four RBIs, including a three-run homerun vs. UNLV. The talented outfielder is now batting an impressive .611 on the year and has 10 RBIs after only six games.
UNLV 9, Penn State 8
The Lions fell behind in the first inning 2-0 before sophomore Danielle Kinley hit an RBI single to make the score 2-1. In the second inning, the Rebels scored another run, but Penn State was able to keep the score close with an Ashley Griffith (Mt. Laurel, N.J.) RBI single.
UNLV scored four runs in the top of the fifth inning go up by six, leading 8-2. Penn State bounced back with a six run fifth inning to tie the game. Kinley hit a three-run homer, her first home run of the season, to make the score, 8-5. The next batter, Jenn Reynolds (Clovis, Calif.), smacked a solo home run to continue the Lion rally. Kayce Zielinski (Arlington, Texas) hit an RBI single and Hollee Haines (Riverside, Calif.) hit an RBI double to tie the game for the Lions.
The Nittany Lions could not take the momentum from the fifth inning into the last two innings and UNLV took the lead for good after Kendall Fearn hit a solo home run in the sixth inning.
Reynolds started on the mound for the Lions. With the loss, her record moves to 1-1 on the year. Jackie Hill (San Jose, Calif.) pitched two innings, giving up only one hit.
No. 6 Oregon State 5, Penn State 0
Penn State (3-3) kept it tight early, but eventually lost a 5-0 decision to the No. 6 Oregon Beavers (7-2) in its second game of the day at the Palm Springs Classic. Juniors Ashley Esparza (San Pedro, Calif.) and Hollee Haines, and sophomore outfielder Danielle Kinley all recorded hits in the game, but the Lions?? couldn??t get anything going offensively.
Oregon State scored in four separate innings, using nine hits to grab the shutout victory
Freshman Jackie Hill struck out four in the loss, falling to 1-1 on the year. Oregon State??s Brianna McGowan rose to 5-1 on the year with the victory.
Penn State continues action Saturday at 8:30 p.m. PT vs. No. 12 Washington. The Lions meet Nevada and No. 22 Fresno State on Sunday to finish tournament action.