March 26, 2011
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Take a Tour of the Nittany Lion Softball Park on Opening Day
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- The opening of Nittany Lion Softball Park and Beard Field was nothing short of exciting as Penn State defeated Wisconsin, 8-5, on a chilly and sunny Saturday afternoon.
"It's good, it's a good thing to get a win on the day you open," Head coach Robin Petrini said. "Because then people want to come back and watch some more. We also generate a lot of offense, and fans love offense so that was good, so hopefully people will come back tomorrow and see a little bit more."
Penn State (14-11, 1-0 Big Ten) found itself down 5-4 entering the fifth inning but Lisa Akamine (Escondido, Calif.) tallied the stadium's first homer, an inside-the-park dinger, to tie the ballgame. The Nittany Lions put three more on the board in the sixth to defeat the Badgers (15-10, 0-1 Big Ten). Akamine (6-5) also picked up the victory in relief.
"It was a really special day, opening day and all," Akamine said. "I just wanted to go out there and beat Wisconsin. I'm proud of everyone. Everyone did the best that they could. We came back after four or five runs and that's really big for us right now. I think we did a great job all around."
After Akamine's game-tying homer, the Penn State bats again lit up as Alyssa Sovereign (La Canada, Calif.) doubled to centerfield opening the sixth inning. A sacrifice bunt by Lauren Yao (Los Angeles, Calif.) put Sovereign on third as Kasie Hatfield (Tampa, Fla.) hit the go-ahead run in on a single to centerfield for a 6-5 PSU lead.
The PSU rally didn't stop there as pinch-hitter Liz Presto (Bethlehem, Pa.) legged out a fielder's choice, but moved to second on a throwing error, forcing Wisconsin to lift starting pitcher Cassandra Darrah (10-2). The freshman hurler went 5.2 innings allowing seven earned runs on eight hits, while walking one and striking out four.
Relief pitcher Meghan McIntosh threw a wild pitch allowing pinch-runner Rachel Myers (Millheim, Pa.) to move to third before she plunked pinch-hitter Ellen McNair (Niceville, Fla.) on the ensuing pitch. Cassidy Bell (Bakersfield, Calif.) drove her second double of the day into the right-centerfield gap scoring both runners and giving Penn State the final 8-5 score line. Akamine (6-5) would have to work around a bases loaded jam in the seventh, but struck out Whitney Massey swinging to end the ball game. Akamine went 3.2 innings without allowing a hit or a run, but walked three and struck out four Badgers.
Opening Day on Beard Field |
The game, which was already an exciting event due to the nature of Nittany Lion Softball Park opening, saw 13 runs, 14 hits and five errors on the board as the two teams cranked out seven extra-base hits. Wisconsin's Karla Powell tallied Beard Field's first hit, a single to short moving a runner to second that previously walked, but starter Jackie Hill (San Jose, Calif.) caught Michelle Mueller looking at strike three to end the inning.
Bell notched Penn State's first hit in the new digs, a double to left center to kick off the home team's first inning. A ground out moved Bell to third before Kailyn Johnson (Yorba Linda, Calif.) singled Bell home for an early 1-0 Penn State lead.
"It was great; just get it out of the way," Bell said. "Not to worry about it. It also sets the tone for the game. It was great, Kailyn hitting me in it just gets a good game started."
Hill found herself in trouble in the second inning as the Badgers fought back. Following a bases loaded walk to tie the game, Mary Massei hit a bases clearing triple to centerfield to give Wisconsin a 4-1 advantage through one and a half innings.
PSU would get all those runs back in the bottom of the third when Bell scored on a throwing error by Mueller who was trying to get Akamine out at first on an infield single. Shannon Hutchinson (Sewell, N.J.) pinch-ran for Akamine, while Johnson walked on a 3-2 count before Sovereign lifted a fly ball to left field. Massei lost the ball in the sun and everyone was safe on the play as Sovereign was credited with a two-run double and a 4-4 tie game.
The resilient Badgers responded again with a run of their own in the fourth when Massei capped her 2-for-4, 4-RBI game with a double to left center scoring Jennifer Krueger from second base. Unfortunately, Massei would be part of the game-changing play the very next inning.
Akamine stepped to the plate with one out in the bottom of the fifth and stroked a shot to left-centerfield as Massei and centerfielder Krueger went for the ball. Krueger nearly had the ball as she collided with Massei and the ball caromed into left field. Akamine hustled around the bag and beat the play at the plate for Beard Field's first homer and Akamine's second career shot. From there, PSU built on the momentum Akamine built from her hitting and pitching for the three-run sixth and to cap the victorious debut of Nittany Lion Softball Park.
Penn State returns to its brand new, $10.2 million Nittany Lion Softball Park to face Wisconsin at Beard Field tomorrow for a 1:00 p.m. first pitch. The matchup will have live stats coverage through GameTracker as well as commentary and analysis on Twitter (www.twitter.com/PSULionSoftball). The game will also be carried by ComRadio over the internet through UStream.
--NITTANY LIONS--