April 3, 2013
EAST LANSING, Mich. - Penn State softball battled cold, windy conditions as they dropped a pair of decisions to Michigan State Wednesday afternoon in East Lansing, Mich. The Spartans (19-13, 5-0 Big Ten) limited the Nittany Lions (7-21, 0-5 Big Ten) to just one run in both of the contests to take the games, 4-1 and 7-1, respectively.
Penn State continues its Big Ten road swing with a three-game series against Indiana in Bloomington, Ind., beginning at 6 p.m. Friday. The Nittany Lions and Hoosiers then face off at 1 p.m. Saturday and 1 p.m. Sunday.
Shannon Hutchinson (Sewell, N.J), Macy Jones (Ashburn, Va.) and Kailyn Johnson (Yorba Linda, Calif.) each tallied a pair of hits on the day, led by Jones' two doubles. Hutchinson and Reina Furuya (Waipahu, Hawaii) accounted for both of Penn State's RBI.
In the start in game one, Jones (6-8) tossed her sixth complete game of the year, allowing three earned runs on eight hits while striking out six Spartans. Michigan State's Kelly Smith (14-7) earned the victory with five hits allowed over 7.0 innings with nine strikeouts.
Michigan State took the lead with a run in the first before adding to its total with a pair of runs in the fourth before Penn State earned one back in the top of the fifth. Lexi Knief (Ramsey, N.J.) reached first after being hit by a pitch from Smith and moved to second on Kasie Hatfield's (Tampa, Fla.) sacrifice bunt down the first base line. Hutchinson collected her first RBI of the season in the following at-bat as she ripped a 1-2 pitch right back up the middle and by Smith to allow Knief to cross the plate.
The Spartans answered back in the bottom of the fifth to reassert the lead at three runs, 4-1, which would hold for the remainder of the game.
In game two, the Nittany Lions jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the top of the third after Hutchinson led off with a walk and advanced to third on Jones' double to right field. Hutchinson sped home as Furuya grounded out to the shortstop. The RBI marked Furuya's eighth of the season.
With five runs in the fourth, Michigan State took the lead for good with five hits before a two-run home run from Sarah Bowling increased the lead to 7-1.
Starting pitcher Christy Von Pusch (0-6) (Bryn Mawr, Pa.) went 3.2 innings for the Nittany Lions, including three scoreless frames to open the game, before finishing with five earned runs on six hits. Jordan Wheatley (Troy, Mich.) closed out the game, relieving Von Pusch in the fourth. Wheatley allowed just two hits over the final 2.1 innings. Spartan starter Dani Goranson (3-5) earned the victory while allowing one earned run on four hits.