May 14, 2010
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- - The Penn State softball team edged out Indiana, 3-2, in a 12-inning marathon at the IU Softball Field on Friday afternoon. Mary Ostman (Northbrook, Ill.) scored in the 12th inning on an RBI ground out by Ashley Griffith (Mt. Laurel, N.J.) and Jackie Hill (San Jose, Calif.) went the distance to take the game.
Penn State (29-22, 8-11 Big Ten) manufactured a run in the 12th inning to give Penn State a win in its longest game in two years. Ostman doubled down the right-field line to open the inning. Cassidy Bell (Bakersfield, Calif.) grounded out to advance Ostman up to third and Griffith's grounder to second scored Ostman.
PSU jumped out to an early one-run lead when Desi Giordano (West Caldwell, N.J.) singled and Danee Collett (Rogersville, Tenn.) doubled here home. Collett's hit bounced off the top of the wall in left-center field, nearly giving Penn State a 2-0 advantage. Collett's double was her 12th this season, which is best on the team.
The Nittany Lions put another run across when Hill sent a one-out groundball to second base. Alyssa Renwick (Laurens, S.C.) was forced out at second but the throw to first to get Hill tipped off the first baseman's glove and allowed Griffith to score from second base for a two run margin.
Indiana (12-36, 4-14 Big Ten) scratched a run across in the bottom half of the third when a fielding error and a bunt single put Hoosiers on first and second with one out. A single by Jennifer Glueckert scored one but Breanna Saucedo was thrown out at third on a nice relay throw from Cassidy Bell (Bakersfield, Calif.) and Kailyn Johnson (Yorba Linda, Calif.) to Giordano at third.
The Hoosiers mounted another charge in the fifth inning with a hard liner to third and a single to left put runners on first and second with just one out. A grounder up the middle hit off of Hill to Lauren Rossi (Yardley, Pa.) at second but her flip to Renwick at second was bobbled and loaded the bases. IU's Amanda Wagner lifted a fly ball to right field to tie the score at two apiece through five full innings.
The tied stalemate ventured into the late innings, eventually reaching the ninth where Penn State attempted to retake the lead. Giordano led off with a single to right center and Collett sacrificed her to second base. Morgan Long (Oro Valley, Ariz.) grounded out to second to move Giordano to third, but Bell's fly out to left would end the opportunity.
After an uneventful 10th inning, the 11th started off with a single to center by Rossi. Lauren Yao (Los Angeles, Calif.) laid down a textbook sacrifice bunt to advance Rossi to second. Unfortunately for Penn State, Giordano and Collett popped up to cap the half inning.
The extra-inning affair was Penn State's fourth of the year and was the longest. The last 10-inning game was on Mar. 7 when PSU outlasted South Florida, 4-2, at the USF Under Armour Invitational. Hill pitched that game as well, which was her previous career high for innings pitched in a game. She scattered six hits, a walk and a hit-by-pitch amongst six strikeouts, allowing no earned runs, lowering her team-best ERA to 2.35. The 12-inning game was the longest since a 14-inning battle against Northwestern in Apr. 2008.
Penn State will close out its regular season Saturday when it takes on Indiana for the final game in the two-game series starting at 1:00 p.m. The game will have GameTracker live stats coverage as well as live commentary through Twitter (@PSULionSoftball). IUHoosiers.com will be providing live audio coverage of the game as well.
--NITTANY LIONS--
--NITTANY LIONS--