April 28, 2013
IOWA CITY, Iowa - On a sunny Senior Day in Iowa City, Iowa jumped out to an early lead and held on to take the final game of the series against Penn State, 5-0, Sunday afternoon at Pearl Field. The Hawkeyes (26-23, 5-15 Big Ten) needed the victory to avoid the sweep to Penn State (14-31, 4-15) after the Nittany Lions claimed the Friday and Saturday clashes.
The Blue and White return home to host Nebraska May 4-6. The Lions and Huskers begin the series at 2 p.m. Saturday before meeting again at 2:30 Sunday and 1 p.m. Monday before departing for the Big Ten tournament in Lincoln, Neb., May 9-12.
Cassidy Bell (Bakersfield, Calif.), Kasie Hatfield (Tampa, Fla.) and Lexi Knief (Ramsey, N.J.) accounted for three hits with a single apiece. Kailyn Johnson (Yorba Linda, Calif.) and Alyssa Sovereign (La Canada, Calif.) both drew one walk, as well.
Macy Jones (12-15) (Ashburn, Va.) lasted 2.2 innings in the start, allowing four runs on six hits before being relieved by Marissa Diescher (Livingston Manor, N.Y.) in the third. Diescher struck out a pair and allowed one run in 1.1 frames. Jordan Wheatley (Troy, Mich.) closed out the contest on the mound for Penn State, throwing a scoreless final two innings.
Leadoff batters reached safely and advanced to third in both the first and second innings for Penn State, but neither could make the final trek to home. Bell ripped a single up the middle to open the game and reached third on a play at first and a stolen base but was left there. Sovereign drew a walk in the first at-bat of the second before advancing on a sacrifice bunt from Knief and a fielder's choice from Wheatley.
After plating one to take the lead in the second, Iowa used a pair of home runs in the third to go up, 4-0. The Hawkeyes loaded the bags with no outs in the fifth but Wheatley entered the game and helped Penn State escape the jam while giving up just one run.
The Lions had trouble at the plate before recording back-to-back singles in the top of the seventh. Knief produced Penn State's second hit of the day with a one-out blooper to left before Hatfield sliced a shot up the middle to put runners on first and second. The rally ended there, however, as Lyon induced an infield fly and a grounder to third to secure the win.
Bell and Knief both finished the series batting .400 with four hits while Hatfield and Sovereign led the team with three RBI. Johnson contributed a pair of RBI with two doubles. Jones picked up both wins in the circle for Penn State while Wheatley tossed 5.1 efficient innings for the Lions.