Feb. 12, 2012
BATON ROUGE, La. - The Nittany Lion softball team ended its time at the Tiger Classic with a 12-1 loss to No. 15 Michigan on Sunday. PSU finished 1-3 at Tiger Park this weekend.
Penn State nearly got out of the first inning unscathed, but a liner by Michigan's Bree Evans through the middle was knocked down and she reached second on an error, putting runners on first and second. A sacrifice moved the Michigan runners up a base and a throwing error allowed Evans to score from third. Following a pop up that would've ended the inning, Stephanie Kirkpatrick's two-out single made the Wolverine lead 3-0 after a half-inning.
From there Michigan (4-0) expanded its lead in the second adding two more runs on a pair of singles, ending Marissa Diescher's (Livingston Manor, N.Y.) morning. Diescher went 1.1 innings allowing two earned runs on six hits with a strikeout.
Catcher Liz Presto (Bethlehem, Pa.) led the bottom of the third with a single to right as Alicia Walker (Los Alamitos, Calif.) came in to pinch run. She reached second on a wild pitch, but a strike out and a fly out ended the scoring opportunity.
Michigan put the game out of reach in the fourth with two home runs, a three-run shot by Amanda Chidester and a solo homer by Ashley Lane to make the lead 9-0. The runs given up by Jordan Wheatley (Troy, Mich.) were the first allowed by the sophomore righty this season.
Penn State went on to strand a runner in the bottom of the fourth before Michigan tacked on another three runs. PSU gave it a valiant effort in the bottom of the fifth to extend the game as Cassidy Bell (Bakersfield, Calif.) doubled home Liz Presto (Bethlehem, Pa.) after a Morgan Long (Oro Valley, Ariz.) single. The Lions couldn't muster anything else, falling 12-1. Presto went 1-for-1 with a walk and a run on Sunday in her second career start at catcher.
Penn State is off next weekend before traveling to the Carolina Classic hosted by UNC on Feb. 25-26. PSU plays Notre Dame, James Madison and North Carolina during its stay in Chapel Hill.
--NITTANY LIONS--