April 24, 2010
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa.--The Nittany Lion softball team used heavy hitting and a dominant pitching effort from senior right-hander Jackie Hill (San Jose, Calif.) for a 7-1 win over Iowa on Saturday afternoon. Hill carried a no-hitter through four innings and struck out nine en route to her 13th win of the campaign for Penn State, leading the Lions to their first win over the Hawkeyes (23-15, 8-2 Big Ten) in Happy Valley since 2006.
Penn State (27-16, 6-7 Big Ten) opened strong in the first, with Hill striking out one in the top of the inning, and freshman Cassidy Bell (Bakersfield, Calif.) opened the offense in the bottom with a single. An Ashley Griffith (Mt. Laurel, N.J.) single and Lisa Akamine (Escondido, Calif.) ground out put runners on second and third for sophomore catcher Danee Collett (Orange, Calif.) with one out. A strikeout and a groundout ended the threat with PSU stranding two.
Hill picked up where she left off in the top of the second, striking out the side with two going down looking and one swinging to quickly bring the Lions back to the plate. Freshman Kailyn Johnson (Yorba Linda, Calif.) opened the Penn State half of the inning with a walk, and a Lauren Rossi (Yardley, Pa.) single put two runners on. Junior Desi Giordano (West Caldwell, N.J.) laid down a sacrifice bunt to advance the runners to scoring position, and a Hill crack up the middle scored one and had one tagged out at home. Hill moved to second on the play. Bell took a ball deep to right center with two outs, good for a double and an RBI as Hill scored on the play. A pop out proved to be the end of the inning, but the damage was done, and the Lions took the field up 2-0.
Akamine and Yao singles put runners on first and second with one out in the bottom of the third. A Johnson grounder to second was mishandled by the Iowa shortstop on the throw, scoring one on the play and bringing Rossi to the plate with runners on first and second. Two grounders prevented Penn State from scoring more, but PSU led 3-0.
Hill continued her dominance in the top of the fourth, striking out two to end a quick and scoreless half inning for the Hawkeyes. The bottom of the fourth saw more Nittany Lion offense, as Hill walked to open the inning, and Bell followed with a single through the right side. Griffith laid down her nation leading 18th sacrifice of the season to move the runners to second and third. Relief pitcher Amanda Zust was up to the task and retired two Nittany Lions to keep it a three-run ballgame.
The top of the fifth saw some offense from Iowa, as a hit batter, a single, and a stolen base would put runners on the corners for the Hawkeyes. A defensive miscue would bring the runner home from third to get Iowa on the board.
Two singles and a walk to open the inning would load the bases with one out for Hill in the bottom of the fifth. The senior would walk, scoring one and bringing Bell to the plate with the bases still loaded, one away. Bell would hit a fielder's choice to the shortstop, who got Hill out at second, reaching first safely and scoring another. With Griffith at the plate, a failed double steal ended the inning and Penn State led 5-1 after five full.
Hill's supremacy continued in the sixth, as she struck out the side for the second time in the game, giving her nine strikeouts in the contest. An Akamine single would open the bottom of the sixth for Penn State, and sophomore Ashley Todd (Mill Creek, Wash.) would rip a pinch-hit double to right center, scoring Akamine and giving the Lions a 6-1 lead. Penn State Head Coach Robin Petrini would go to her bench again one batter later, calling upon sophomore Morgan Long (Oro Valley, Ariz.) with runners on first and second. Long would deliver with a single to right field to score one more and take a 7-1 lead. That is where the score would stand, as any Hawkeye attempts at a rally were cut short by Hill, as Penn State retired the side to take the contest.
For the game, Penn State pounded 13 hits, while allowing Iowa to knock just one. Penn State snaps a four game losing skid, winning their first contest since April 14th. Hill and Bell spearheaded the Lions' offensive effort, each knocking in two RBI. Hill's record moves to 13-10 for the year, and the Lions registered an errorless game in the field for the 19th time this season.
The Nittany Lions return to action tomorrow for the second half of their weekend series with the Hawkeyes. First pitch is slated for 12:00 p.m. ET as the game will have live stats on GameTracker, live streaming audio through GoPSUSports.com All-Access and radio coverage on 1390 AM WRSC.. Live commentary will also be available through Twitter (@PSULionSoftball).
--NITTANY LIONS--