March 31, 2010
Game One Box Score • Game Two Box Score • Softball YouTube Channel
KENT, Ohio--The Penn State softball team swept a doubleheader at Kent State on Wednesday at the Diamond at Dix Stadium. The Nittany Lions won the first game, 5-2, after falling behind by two before taking Game Two, 9-5, after a three-run deficit.
In Game One, Kent State (13-14), 0-0 Mid-American) opened the scoring in the bottom of the first inning with a solo homer by Lauren Grimes to right field. KSU followed that up when righty Ashlee Hein hit an opposite field blast that snuck over the right field wall for a two-run advantage after two innings.
Penn State (21-9, 1-1 Big Ten) would work its way back into the ballgame in the third inning when the Lions loaded the bases after a series of walks with one out. A wild pitch by Kylie Reynolds (5 IP, 7 H, 5 R, 4 ER, 6 BB, 10 K) brought home Alyssa Renwick (Laurens, S.C.) from third to cut the lead in half, 2-1.
The Nittany Lions came up in the fourth and threatened again on the base paths as Morgan Long (Oro Valley, Ariz.) belted a double off the centerfield wall with one out. Unfortunately, pinch hitter Kimi Wong (Goleta, Calif.) and Renwick could not score pinch runner Shannon Hutchinson (Sewell, N.J.), ending the rally.
After the pair of solo shots for Kent State, starter Jackie Hill (San Jose, Calif.) settled down, retiring the side in the third, and getting the Flashes to strand one in the fourth in a fairly comfortable end to her outing. Hill would go the distance allowing three hits and a walk in an effective 102-pitch outing.
The Lion bats came alive again in the fifth when Cassidy Bell (Bakersfield, Calif.) ripped her first collegiate home run, a liner to straightaway center field to tie the game up at two apiece. Penn State kept the rally going in the inning when Danee Collett (Orange, Calif.) knocked a single down the left field line with one away for the fourth PSU hit of the day.
Kailyn Johnson (Yorba Linda, Calif.) hit a shot to center that Leah Archual could not make the diving catch, allowing Collett to score from first and giving Johnson a her eighth double of the season. Pinch hitter Lauren Yao (Los Angeles, Calif.) walked on a full count to put two runners on and Desi Giordano (West Caldwell, N.J.) at the plate, but she would strike out for the second out of the fifth inning. Long would walk to load the bases and another wild pitch by Reynolds brought pinch runner Rachel Myers (Millheim, Pa.) home from third to give PSU a 4-2 lead.
Hill retired the KSU side again in order in the fifth inning, throwing just 63 pitches through those first five innings. PSU mounted another rally in the top of the sixth when Bell laced a single to center, Ashley Griffith (Mt. Laurel, N.J.) lined out to short and Collett walked to put two runners on with two outs. Johnson crushed a ball to left center that hit the top of the fence, but bounced back into play, scoring Bell and moving Collett to third, padding the lead, a 5-2 advantage for Penn State.
Hill found herself in a bit of trouble in the bottom half of the sixth when a dropped liner by Griffith allowed Grimes to reach second and Hill beaned Beth Cinadr to put two runners on with just one out. Hill induced a soft grounder to the mound for the second out. Hein walked on a full count to load the bases to bring up pinch hitter Clare Sullivan, who struck out on a 1-2 pitch in the dirt to end the threat.
Hill had an uneventful seventh inning, getting the Golden Flashes out in order to earn her 11th win of the season. Penn State received three multi-hit games from its batters as Bell, Collett and Johnson each had two hits apiece in the win, which was PSU's 20th, exceeding last year's total of 19.
In Game Two, the Nittany Lions got on the board first when Johnson drove home Griffith with an RBI single to left field. Griffith reached on a walk and moved to second on a throwing error by Kent State to set up the situation for Johnson's RBI.
Lisa Akamine (Escondido, Calif.), the reigning Big Ten Pitcher of the Week, got the start in the circle for Penn State looking to continue her stellar form of late. A one-out walk of Grimes and an error by Renwick gave Kent State a two on, one out situation in the first. Jessica Carmichael blooped a single to left to load the bases. Hein got an RBI on a 3-2 walk to knot things at one. Akamine would get a pair of strike outs to end the threat as the first inning took 28 minutes.
After a scoreless second, Kent State put runners on the corners in the third, but Akamine worked her way out of the jam with a fly out to left field to keep things tied at one through three innings.
Penn State stranded Mary Ostman (Northbrook, Ill.) in the second, while Akamine retired the Kent State side in order. The Lions put together another rally in the fourth when Akamine got on base thanks to a Kent State fielding error. Giordano and Yao walked to load the bases with one out. Freshman hurler Danielle Abernathy got a strikeout and a popup to quell the Penn State offense.
Akamine put down the Kent State batters in order in the bottom of the fourth, but ran into serious trouble in the fifth as the Flashes put runners on first and second base after a single and an error. A single by Cinadr brought home one run and a subsequent run down took out Grimes at home plate with Cinadr advancing to third with KSU leading 2-1. On a 1-0 count, Carmichael ripped a homer to centerfield to extend the lead to three at 4-1.
The Nittany Lions looked ready to respond in the top of the sixth when Akamine singled up the middle and Long walked to lead off the inning. Giordano grounded to short, but an error by the shortstop loaded the bases, bringing up Wong in her second pinch hitting appearance of the day. Wong's RBI grounder to inch Penn State to two runs at 4-2 with one away and runners on second and third. Danielle Noll (Bald Eagle, Pa.) walked in a pinch hitting appearance to load the bases again for Penn State.
Malia Coleman was brought in to salvage the inning for Kent State, but she allowed a two-run single to center to Bell and after a Griffith popup, Collett smashed a drive over the centerfield fence for a three-run homer and a 7-4 Penn State lead. The homer was Collett's fifth homer of the year and on the day, Kent State failed to retire Collett successfully. Collett went 4-for-6 overall with two runs scored and three RBI.
Hill came in relief in the sixth getting a pair of strikeouts and a grounder played perfectly by Giordano. Giordano came up as the third batter in the seventh and knocked a homer over the right centerfield wall for two more runs and a 9-4 Penn State lead. Cinadr added a solo homer in the bottom of the seventh, but Hill garnered her third save of the year as she left the bases loaded.
The Nittany Lions return to action when they hit the road again, traveling to Purdue for a two-game set starting Saturday at 4:00 p.m. Penn State will face the Boilermakers again on Sunday at 1:00 p.m. as both games will have live stats on GameTracker and free live streaming audio through PurdueSports.com and Stretch Internet. Live commentary will also be available through Twitter (@PSULionSoftball).
--NITTANY LIONS--