March 29, 2009
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - On a misty day at Nittany Lion Field, the Penn State softball team fell to No. 10 Northwestern by a score of 10-0 in five innings. The only two hits for the Lions came from senior first baseman Danielle Kinley (Carlsbad, Calif.) and junior left fielder Ashley Griffith (Mt. Laurel, N.J.). Penn State is now 9-16 overall and 0-4 in Big Ten play while the Wildcats improve to 18-7 and 4-0 in conference.
Northwestern got started ealry as Robin Thompson got a leadoff a walk and later scored on a single by Michelle Batts. The Lions kept the Cats silent in the second, but Northwestern extended its lead in the third with a two-run blast by Batts. Nicole Pauly followed with a solo shot of her own with no outs before the inning was retired with two fly outs and a ground out.
Penn State went hitless for three straight innings as the Wildcats poured it on in the fourth. Errors plagued the Lion infield as Northwestern scored five unearned runs with one out bringing the score to 9-0.
The Nittany Lions had their strongest scoring opportunity in the fourth. Kinley reached on a walk and advanced to second on a single by Griffith, the first Penn State hit of the game. Senior center fielder Sam Hovanec (Pittsburgh, Pa.) then got on base with a pitch to the helmet to load the bases with one out. Unfortunately, the Wildcat infield took out the lead runners in the next two at-bats to control the situation.
In the top of the fifth, Tiffany Williams led off with a long ball over the right field wall. The Wildcats once again had runners in scoring position, but freshman third baseman Ashley Todd (Mill Creek, Wash.) came up big with some clutch plays to minimize the damage.
Penn State showed promise in the fifth with two on as Kimi Wong (Goleta, Calif.) reached on a walk and advanced to second with a single from Kinley. But she wouldn't get any farther as a fly out to left field ended the game.
Northwestern scored 10 runs on six hits while capitalizing on two Penn State errors and leaving nine on base. The Lions had two hits and left five on.
Freshman pitcher Lisa Akamine (Escondido, Calif.) struck out two batters in the loss to become 4-9 in the circle.
Penn State will return to Nittany Lion Field Wednesday afternoon for a conference double header with Michigan to begin at 3 p.m.