March 16, 2013
FULLERTON, Calif. - Despite tying the score twice in the second and third innings, Penn State softball ultimately dropped an 8-4 decision to No. 9/10 Texas Friday night at the Judi Garman Classic in Fullerton, Calif. A pair of two-run home runs from Liz Presto and Cassidy Bell in back-to-back innings tied it up for the Nittany Lions (6-14), but the Longhorns (24-4) eventually overpowered them with 11 hits.
Penn State continues play at the tournament at 3:30 p.m. ET Saturday against No. 16/18 Washington before taking on DePaul at 8:30 p.m. The squad wraps up the tournament with a noon showdown with top-ranked Oklahoma.
Freshman pitcher Christy Von Pusch (0-3) (Bryn Mawr, Pa.) tossed a season-high 5.0 innings in the start and struck out two Longhorn batters while giving up nine hits. Senior Rachel Myers (Millheim, Pa.) threw the final inning for Penn State, allowing one unearned run on two hits. Texas hurler Holly Kern (4-3) earned the victory with 4.2 scoreless innings and four hits allowed.
Seven Nittany Lions recorded a hit, including two-hit performances from Macy Jones (Ashburn, Va.), Kailyn Johnson (Yorba Linda, Calif.) and Presto (Bethlehem, Pa.), who notched a pair of RBI alongside Bell (Bakersfield, Calif.). Lexi Knief (Ramsey, N.J.), Shannon Hutchinson (Sewell, N.J.) and Reina Furuya (Waipahu, Hawaii) each tallied a hit against Texas.
The teams went back and forth in the opening innings as Texas jumped out to two-run leads twice in the second and third just for the Nittany Lions to tie it up in the following frame. The Longhorns struck first in the bottom of the first with a pair of runs on a two-RBI single from Mandy Ogle. Presto answered in the second, smashing a full-count offering over the right field wall to bring home Alicia Walker (Los Alamitos, Calif.).
Texas again claimed a two-run advantage in the second with a pair of runs on four singles before Bell launched her 12th home run of the season over the scoreboard in left center to score Knief and knot the score at four apiece.
The Longhorns grabbed the lead for good in the bottom of the third with an RBI single from Erin Shireman before Karina Scott scored from third on a wild pitch. Texas added one insurance run in both the fifth and sixth to set the final score at 8-4.
Shireman led all batters with three singles, while Taylor Thom and Scott added two hits apiece.