March 11, 2011
ATLANTA, Ga. - The Nittany Lion softball team was paced by Jackie Hill's (San Jose, Calif.) nine-strikeout performance in the circle for a 1-0 blanking of Georgia State at Mewborn Field on Friday night. Penn State scored an unearned run in the top of the sixth inning to squeeze by the Panthers and improve to 2-0 in the SpringHill Suites Buckhead Classic hosted by Georgia Tech.
Penn State (10-7) won its sixth game in eight tries during Spring Break in Georgia on the strength of Hill's third shutout performance of the year. Hill used nine strikeouts and tip-toed around tough jams to keep the Panthers at bay in a game that saw the two teams combine to leave 14 on base.
Through three and a half innings, Georgia State (9-12) had managed just two base runners, while Penn State seemed on the verge of scoring several times, stranding six in five frames. The Panthers managed to load the bases and seemed poised to break through the scoreless stalemate. Two walks opened the proceedings while a hard hit ball to Hill slipped under her glove for an infield single. Hill buttoned down the hatches getting Paige Nowaki and pinch-hitter Audrey Mason strikeout. Then she induced a line out back to the mount from Tiffany Bess to halt the GSU rally. Georgia State would get two more runners aboard in the bottom of the fifth, but another crucial strikeout got Hill out of the jam.
The Nittany Lions looked ready to capitalize on Georgia State's missed opportunities when Danee Collett (Rogersville, Tenn.) singled, allowing Shannon Hutchinson (Sewell, N.J.) to pinch run. A grounder advanced Hutchinson to second before another grounder put two outs on the board. Kasie Hatfield (Lutz, Fla.) hit a single to center and Hutchinson was initially held up at third, but the throw from GSU's Jessica Clifton was airmailed into the backstop netting, allowing Hutchinson to score on the error and Hatfield to take second base. PSU couldn't do any more damage as a lineout to right ended the threat.
From there on out, Hill (6-4) struck out the side in the sixth and got three harmless grounders on the seventh for two straight perfect innings and her sixth victory of the year. The redshirt-senior lowered her earned run average to 1.48 on the season.
Collett notched two hits as did Hatfield, while Cassidy Bell (Bakersfield, Calif.) posted the fifth base knock on the night for PSU. GSU's McCall Langford (3-6) took the loss going 6.1 innings with four hits and three walks allowed, while striking out eight.
With a 2-0 record on the first day, Penn State leads the SpringHill Suites Buckhead Classic followed by Georgia Tech at 1-0. Belmont has yet to play a game, while Georgia State (0-1) and Bowling Green (0-2) round out the field.
Penn State returns to Mewborn Field tomorrow for a 6:30 p.m. showdown with the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets. All Nittany Lion games will have live stats coverage through GameTracker as well as commentary and analysis on Twitter (www.twitter.com/PSULionSoftball). Georgia Tech will also be providing live video for each game of the SpringHill Suites Classic as well visit GoPSUsports.com for the link.
--NITTANY LIONS--