March 18, 2011
FULLERTON, Calif. - Penn State softball earned its best win of the 2011 season with a dominating 5-2 win over No. 9 Oklahoma on Friday morning at the Judi Garman Classic. The Nittany Lions pounded out a season-high 13 hits and Jackie Hill (San Jose, Calif.) won her eighth game of the season in the circle striking out 10.
Penn State (13-9) got off to a rocking start when Cassidy Bell (Bakersfield, Calif.) ripped her third homer of the year on the third pitch of the game over the right-centerfield wall for a quick one-run lead. Kailyn Johnson (Yorba, Linda, Calif.) and Danee Collett (Rogersville, Tenn.) followed with back-to-back singles. With runners on the corners, OU starter Allee Allen threw an illegal pitch allowing Alyssa Renwick (Laurens, S.C.) to score from third and give PSU a two-run cushion.
Oklahoma (24-7) looked to get those runs back in the subsequent half-inning by earning two base hits on bunts in front of the plate. Hill got the next two Sooners on strikeouts before a two-out walk loaded the bases. A line drive to center field ended OU's chances as Penn State escaped unscathed. Penn State continued its hitting ways in the second as Lauren Rossi (Yardley, Pa.) and Mary Ostman (Northbrook, Ill.) singled with one out, chasing starter Allie Allen from the game. Allen's line read 1.1 innings pitches with five hits and two earned runs against. Michelle Gascoigne came in relief of Allen and struck two Lions out to start her day.
Following scoreless frames in the second and third innings for both sides, Rossi kick started another Penn State offensive charge in the top of the fourth with an infield single, her second hit of the day. Ostman was hit by the next pitch putting runners on first and second with one out. The two runners were moved ovesr a base on a ground out before a chopper to short by Lisa Akamine (Escondido, Calif.) scored Rossi. Shortstop Javen Hesson still tried to Akamine out, but it was wide of first base scoring Ostman on the play for a 4-0 Penn State lead. PSU tried to add to the lead as Johnson reached safely on a single, but a strikeout culled Penn State's scoring.
Penn State would pound out two more hits in the fifth inning as Alyssa Sovereign (La Canada, Calif.) and Hill singled to put runners on the corners with just one out. Gascoingne was up to the task, however, and was able to strike out the next two batters and keep the Sooners within four runs.
A scoreless sixth led to another exciting inning for Penn State in the seventh as Collett led off with a single to left before Sovereign roped a triple to deep center to score Collett and put PSU up 5-0. Pinch-hitter Ellen McNair (Niceville, Fla.) lined to center as Sovereign tagged up, but a solid throw from center forced her back to third base and the Nittany Lions would strand her there.
Oklahoma mounted a last ditch rally in the bottom of the seventh as the Sooners' Keilani Ricketts blooped a single to right, scoring two runs with two outs away in the inning. Another single by Oklahoma looked to continue the offense, but Hill induced a weak popup to second securing Penn State's first win over a ranked team this season.
Sovereign notched a 3-for-4 day at the plate for Penn State, while Johnson, Collett and Rossi both tallied two hits on the morning. All but one starting Nittany Lion garnered a hit against the Oklahoma pitching. On the flip side, Hill limited the power-hitting Sooners to just six hits and didn't give up a run until OU was to its final out.
The win over Oklahoma was Penn State's first over the Sooners in softball following two losses in 1993 and 2000. The win over the ninth-ranked Sooners was the first win over a team in the top 25 for PSU since a 9-6 victory vs. Arizona on March 14, 2009. OU is also the best ranked team to be toppled by Penn State since the Nittany Lions knocked off equally ninth-ranked LSU, 3-0, on March 1, 2008.
The 13 hits were the most for Penn State in 2011, eclipsing the 11 the Nittany Lions tallied against Bowling Green in an 8-0, five-inning victory on Mar. 11.
PSU will continue play at the highly competitive Judi Garman Classic on Saturday morning against Pacific and Boise State. Game times are set for 4:00 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. ET against the Tigers and Broncos, respectively. Both matchups will have live stats coverage through GameTracker as well as commentary and analysis on Twitter (www.twitter.com/PSULionSoftball).
--NITTANY LIONS--