May 7, 2011
IOWA CITY, Iowa - A two-out, seventh-inning grounder could not be corralled as Iowa walked away with a 1-0 win over Penn State on Saturday at Pearl Field. PSU starter Jackie Hill (San Jose, Calif.) pitched 6.2 innings without allowing an earned run and Kasie Hatfield (Tampa, Fla.) had a career-best perfect 3-for-3 day at the plate.
Hawkeye third baseman Michelle Zoeller knocked a one-out infield single in the seventh inning, eventually gaining second by way of a grounder to second baseman Lauren Yao (Los Angeles, Calif.) for the second out. Unfortunately for the Nittany Lions, the next grounder was unkind as Chelsey Carmody's ball to Yao went off the sophomore's left side and into right field, scoring the winning run as Zoeller trotted home, snapping Iowa's (27-23, 9-10 Big Ten) seven-game losing streak.
In a game of missed opportunities, the two teams combined for 14 runners left on base, eight for Iowa and six for Penn State (24-22-1, 6-8-1 Big Ten). Additionally, the Nittany Lions out-hit the Hawkeyes, 6-5, but two PSU errors eventually caught up to the Blue and White.
Penn State mounted scoring opportunities in the second and fourth innings, but was unable to push runs across. Hatfield led off the second with a single just past the out-stretched glove of Hawkeye starter Chelsea Lyon. Pinch-runner Shannon Hutchinson (Sewell, N .J.) would eventually get to third, but she would advance no further. In the fourth, Hatfield laced a two-out double in the second, but Alyssa Sovereign's (La Canada, Calif.) liner to right field was hit directly at Iowa's Brianna Luna.
The Nittany Lions' best chance to score came in the fifth when back-to-back infield singles by Yao and Lauren Rossi (Yardley, Pa.) led off the inning. Alyssa Renwick (Laurens, S.C.) sacrificed the runners over a base before pinch-hitter Morgan Long's (Oro Valley, Ariz.) chopper went right to Lyon who was able to gun down Yao trying to sneak in a run. A strikeout by Lyon ended the Nittany Lion threat and kept the game scoreless. Penn State again put a runner in scoring position as Renwick reached second on a wild pitch in the seventh inning, but Lyon used her fifth strikeout of the day to quell the opportunity.
On the flip side, Hill played with fire for the better part of two innings as she left the bases loaded in the first inning after two routine outs. In the second, the Hawkeyes had an opening single and a hit-by-pitch to again get a runner in scoring position. Three successive outs by the senior hurler kept Iowa at bay. In the fourth, the leadoff batter reached again as Jennie Schuekle gained second on a hard hit grounder to short. Schuelke would eventually be thrown out by Hatfield stealing third.
Hill worked around another jam in the sixth as a one-out walk coupled with a single put two runners on. Hill's third strikeout of the game and a foul pop by Schuelke maintained the scoreless game. The redshirt-senior again dominated Iowa in the circle as she lowered her earned-run average against the Hawkeyes to 0.51 in the last four starts. Cumulatively, Hill has thrown 27.2 innings, going 3-1 with only 18 hits against, one walk allowed and two earned runs in that span. Hill also has struck out 24 with a 0.69 WHIP in those four starts.
The Nittany Lions and Hawkeyes wrap up the two-game series on Sunday with a 2:00 p.m. ET contest at Pearl Field. The matchup will be broadcast live on the Big Ten Network and fans can follow the Nittany Lions through GameTracker as well as on Twitter (www.twitter.com/PSULionSoftball) for commentary and analysis.
--NITTANY LIONS--