Feb. 18, 2011
Penn State 3, Tulsa 1 | UMass 10, Penn State 0
BOCA RATON, Fla. - The Penn State opened its 2011 season with a 3-1 win over Tulsa before falling 10-0 to Massachusetts on Friday at the FAU Softball Field. Jackie Hill (San Jose, Calif.) hurled a complete-game win over Tulsa with Desi Giordano providing the year's first homer.
After a rocky first inning where the Golden Hurricane put runners on the corner, Hill retired the side in order with consecutive strikeouts to end the threat. Penn State (1-1) came alive in the top of the third when Giordano led the inning off with a towering shot over the left-centerfield wall for a 1-0 lead.
The home run, Giordano's 20th career blast, put her into a tie for fourth in PSU history with Jen Acunto (2005-08). Giordano led all hitters on Friday with two hits for five total bases and reaching base in three of her four official at-bats.
In the fourth, the Nittany Lion bats continued with a little small ball to pad the lead. Kailyn Johnson (Yorba Linda, Calif.) singled down the left-field line of the third-baseman's glove bringing in pinch-runner Shannon Hutchinson (Sewell, N.J.). Danee Collett (Rogersville, Tenn.) singled to left before Hutchinson stole third when Collett drew a throw to first. Rachel Myers (Millheim, Pa.) came in for Collett, advancing to second on a wild pitch with Lisa Akamine (Escondido, Calif.) at the plate.
Akamine ripped a single to left scoring Hutchinson and advancing Myers to third for a 2-0 margin. Lauren Yao (Los Angeles, Calif.) followed up with a single of her own through the left side to stretch the lead to three when Myers touched home. Unfortunately for the Nittany Lions, they couldn't put across any more runs as the bases were loaded with one out.
Meanwhile, in the circle for Penn State, Hill was cruising along totaling up six strikeouts while scattering three hits and a walk through six innings. Aside from a lead-off homer to lead off the seventh for Tulsa, Hill was able to secure the season-opening win for the Nittany Lions, the second such in as many seasons.
For the first game, six different Nittany Lions had hits including Mary Ostman (Northbrook, Ill.) who got the opening day start in left field. Ostman also drew a walk, one of two PSU hitters to reach base twice with the other being Giordano.
The win moved Penn State to 5-10 in season-opening games under Robin Petrini, winning the second straight season opener. Against Tulsa, the Nittany Lions also improved to 3-1 all-time against the Golden Hurricane.
In the second game of the day, Penn State again got off to a shaky start when the Minutewomen tallied a string of singled together sandwiching an error for a 2-0 lead. UMass would tack on two more with a one-out double and single before a well-turned double play by Yao to Alyssa Renwick (Laurens, S.C.) ended the inning.
Akamine opened the UMass game as the starting pitcher but gave way to freshman Jordan Wheatley (Troy, Mich.) who took over in the fourth inning. Wheatley opened her collegiate career with two strikeouts around a walk. Wheatley retired the Minutewomen in order in the fifth, which included a pair of strikeouts. Wheatley would find herself in trouble in the sixth giving up a two-out grand slam, giving UMass a 9-0 lead before a solo shot added another.
During the UMass rally, Kasie Hatfield (Lutz, Fla.) made her initial Nittany Lion appearance behind the plate. Myers came in relief of Wheatley retiring the final batter of the sixth in her pitching debut. The loss dropped PSU to 1-1 on the year and 10-16 all-time vs. Massachusetts. The Nittany Lions will return to the FAU Softball Stadium Saturday afternoon for a 4:00 p.m. showdown with Long Island. Following the LIU game, PSU will play host Florida Atlantic at 8:00 p.m. Both games will have live stats through GameTracker and updates on Twitter (@PSULionSoftball).
--NITTANY LIONS--