April 3, 2012
Game One Box Score | Game Two Box Score | Photo Gallery
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- Freshman Marissa Diescher (Livingston Manor, N.Y.) tossed a two-hitter and Cassidy Bell (Bakersfield, Calif.) homered as Penn State softball beat Pitt, 4-0, in the nightcap of a Tuesday doubleheader at Beard Field. Penn State fell in the opener, 7-2, but bounced back to snap a 13-game losing streak.
"Marissa did very well," Head coach Robin Petrini said afterward. "She threw a lot of strikes and she had great defense behind her. Cassidy's homer was very important and we played with a lead and broke it open with three more runs in the sixth inning."
The Nittany Lions, now 8-22 after the twinbill, had a great start in the Tuesday finale as Bell homered to lead off. The dinger was Bell's second of the year and provided Diescher with an early lead. The freshman righty settled in and held the Panthers (17-17) at bay by throwing strikes and great defense. Penn State was flawless in the field and turned two double plays including a grounder to second in the opening frame to end a Panther scoring threat.
Diescher went on to strand six more Pitt base runners and left the bases loaded in the second after a single and two walks. The only other hit the Panthers managed was in the fifth, another single, before Diescher left runners on second and third with a grounder to short stop Alyssa Renwick (Laurens, S.C.)
In the sixth, Penn State broke the game open as the first three batters all scored. Bell walked and Renwick's bunt led to an infield single. Alyssa Sovereign (La Canada, Calif.) legged out an infield single as Pitt third baseman Kelly Hmiel threw the ball away, allowing Bell to easily score. Renwick was on her horse and scored all the way from third base as Sovereign earned second base and PSU owned a 3-0 lead. Lauren Yao (Los Angeles, Calif.) then laced her fifth double of the year to leftfield to score Sovereign and extend the margin to four.
Diescher needed three outs for her first collegiate shutout and walked lead-off hitter Carly Thea. A liner to first baseman Kailyn Johnson (Yorba Linda, Calif.) doubled off Thea for the first two outs. Diescher induced a grounder to second to close out the game, ending Penn State's skid. Diescher walked six, struck out three and improved to 3-5 on the year.
Penn State out-hit the Panthers 5-2 in game two as well. Pitt starter Alexa Larkin took the loss allowing four earned runs on two walks with eight strikeouts to fall to 4-7.
In the opener, Pittsburgh leapt out to a 3-0 lead in the second on a pair of triples and two RBI singles. Penn State responded in the fifth, sending seven batters to the plate and loading the bases with no outs. Bell earned a bases loaded walk to force in the first run, scoring Sovereign, while Renwick's grounder to short scored Rachel Myers (Millheim, Pa.).
Pitt returned fire in the sixth with two runs of its own on a double and a sacrifice fly for a 5-2 lead before tacking on two more in the seventh on a homer and an RBI double for the final 7-2 score line.
Renwick went 2-for-4 in the first game and 3-for-7 in the doubleheader with an RBI and a run scored to lead Penn State at the plate. Pitt starter Savannah King went the distance for a complete game victory allowing two earned runs on three walks and six strikeouts. Penn State hurler Lisa Akamine (Escondido, Calif.) took the loss in the opener.
Pitt and Penn State split the yearly doubleheader for the third straight year with the Nittany Lions holding an 11-5 all-time lead. PSU fell to 31-15 all-time in home openers, while Bell's five-game winning streak game to a halt in the first game. Nevertheless she is still hitting .500, slugging .864 and getting on base at a.542 clip with three runs, a triple and two home runs in her last seven games.
Penn State continues its 10-game home stand by facing Michigan State on Saturday for a 2:00 p.m. doubleheader. The doubleheader will be broadcast live on GoPSUsports.com All-Access audio with a radio broadcast on 1390 AM WRSC in the State College area.GoPSUsports.com is also the home to live stats on GameTracker, while updates will be provided Twitter (@PSULionSoftball) and Facebook (PennStateSoftball).
--NITTANY LIONS--