April 13, 2011
Penn State 9, Kent State 1 (6 inn.) | Penn State 4, Kent State 2 (8 inn.) | Quotes
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - Penn State softball won two different types of games in a Wednesday night doubleheader sweep of Kent State at cool and damp Beard Field. The Nittany Lions took the first game 9-1 in six innings before a walk-off two-run homer by Kailyn Johnson (Yorba Linda, Calif.) won the nightcap, 4-2, in eight innings.
"I thought it was great hitting all around," head coach Robin Petrini said. "Cassidy leading us off right away, giving us that spark plug. She's so great on the bases, too, that she makes things happen when's she's on the bases. I just thought that we hit the ball really well today and I was hoping that that was something we would do."
PENN STATE 9, KENT STATE 1 (6 innings)
The Nittany Lions (19-16) scored in four of six innings against the Golden Flashes (16-20) en route to a 9-1 victory to snap a three-game skid. Nine different Penn State players tallied at least a hit paced by Cassidy Bell (Bakersfield, Calif.) who went 2-for-3 with three runs scored and an RBI.
Penn State got on the board in the bottom of the first inning when Bell doubled to right before advancing to third on a passed ball. Bell would eventually come home to score on an error on a Lisa Akamine (Escondido, Calif.) grounder to short.
The Blue and White opened up the game in the third with three runs as Bell once again set the table with a one-out four-pitch walk. Akamine singled putting Bell on third before giving way to Rachel Myers (Millheim, Pa.) as a pinch runner, who would eventually steal second base. Johnson singled through the hole between first and second to score bell and Kasie Hatfield (Tampa, Fla.) notched another single to score Myers and give Penn State a 3-0 lead. Mary Ostman (Northbrook, Ill.) pinch ran for Johnson at second base and scored on a pop up by Lauren Yao (Los Angeles, Calif.), which saw Hatfield get thrown out at third tagging up from second base.
Penn State continued its torrid hitting in the fifth when Alyssa Sovereign (La Canada, Calif.) smashed her third homer of the year over the right-centerfield wall for two more runs and a 6-0 PSU lead. Following a run by Kent State in the top of the sixth inning, Bell singled home pinch-runner Lauren Rossi (Yardley, Pa.) from second base for a 7-1 advantage. Akamine ended the game on the next pitch with a long double off the wall in left scoring Shannon Hutchinson (Sewell, N.J.) and Bell for the run-rule victory, Penn State's second of the season.
Redshirt-senior hurler Jackie Hill (San Jose, Calif.) picked up her 13th win of the season with a six-inning, four-hit, one-earned run performance as she struck out nine Golden Flashes on the afternoon, while walking just two. Penn State pounded out 11 hits as a team to support Hill.
PENN STATE 4, KENT STATE 2 (8 innings)
For the third time in six games at brand new Nittany Lion Softball Park, Beard Field saw an extra-inning game when Penn State downed Kent State, 4-2, on a walk-off homer by Johnson to cap a comeback. Akamine picked up the win in the circle allowing just three hits and no runs for eight straight innings after a two-run homer opened the proceedings.
Kent State (16-21) began the doubleheader nightcap in impressive fashion as Abbey Ledford belted her fourth homer of the year just 10 pitches into the ball game to give the Flashes its first lead of the day. From there, Akamine settled down, retiring the next 10 in a row and not allowing a runner to reach second base until the eighth inning when the international tiebreaker rule took effect.
Penn State (20-16) had its bats come alive in the third inning when Sovereign singled to left scoring Hutchinson and Johnson scored from first base when leftfielder Holly Finchum committed an error to knot the score at two apiece.
The Nittany Lions threatened to score in the sixth as Hatfield led off with a double down the leftfield line, giving way to Ostman as a pinch runner. Ostman would advance to third on a grounder to third, but two more sharp grounders couldn't push her across as KSU starter Lauren McNeil moved the game into the seventh inning.
Penn State put another runner in scoring position in the seventh as Alyssa Renwick (Laurens, S.C.) reached on an error and advanced to second on a grounder, but Akamine wasn't able to drive her home.
In the circle, Akamine used some key pitches against Kent State to get out of a jam in the eighth following the tiebreaker rule. KSU's Abby Rhodes sacrificed Sarah Starr to third base with just one out before Akamine walked Finchum. Akamine was able to get slugger Lauren Grimes to strike out as Finchum stole second. The very next play saw a hard grounder up the middle by Ledford tip off Akamine's glove to Yao, who flipped it to Johnson to escape the inning unscathed, setting up Johnson's magic.
Akamine was placed on second to start the bottom of the eighth inning and on the very first pitch Johnson knocked an opposite field shot just under the scoreboard in leftfield to give Penn State a thrilling 4-2 victory and a series sweep of Kent State.
Akamine went eight full innings with five strikeouts and just two walks against. Johnson went 2-for-3 with two runs and two RBI, while Hatfield also tallied two of Penn State's six hits on the evening.
The Nittany Lions improved to 24-15 all-time against the Golden Flashes and ran their streak to six against Kent State. Penn State improved to 12-2 vs. KSU during Petrini's tenure and has now won 14 of the last 15 meetings over the Flashes. Also of note, the doubleheader was delayed 95 minutes due to rainy conditions in the State College area and a heavy mist fell and sharp wind swept across the stadium during much of the second game as temperatures were in the high 40s.
Penn State returns to Nittany Lion Softball Park and Beard Field on Thursday for a doubleheader against non-conference foe Buffalo at 4:00 p.m. The set will have live stats coverage through GameTracker as well as commentary and analysis on Twitter (www.twitter.com/PSULionSoftball). The series is a make up for a rain out on March 24, which was to serve as the inaugural opening of the brand new $10.2 million softball complex.
--NITTANY LIONS--