Feb. 7, 2015
| 6 | 4 |
| FAU Kick-Off Tournament | |
FAU Softball Stadium | Boca Raton, Fla.
POST GAME LINKS
| Gm 1: Box Score (HTML) (PDF) | Play-by-Play |
| VIDEO: Postgame Interview (Brackpool) |
BOX SCORE
BOCA RATON, Fla. - Led by the solid pitching of senior Marissa Diescher (Livingston Manor, N.Y.), and two long balls off the bats of Alyssa VanDerveer (Hillsborough, N.J.) and Kristina Brackpool (Valencia, Calif.), the Penn State softball team downed Arkansas 6-4 in its opening game of the 2015 season.
Diescher (1-0) got the win and went seven full, surrendering four runs on five hits while striking out four in the team's first game of the FAU Kick-Off Tournament, hosted by Florida Atlantic.
The Lions fell behind early after the Razorbacks tacked on a run on two hits in their half of the first, but the lead would not stand for long as freshman Mollie Sorenson (Stevenson Ranch, Calif.), was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded, bringing home a run to make it 1-1.
Diescher settled in well after that and went on to toss five innings of scoreless ball, allowing her team to take a commanding 6-1 lead heading into the seventh.
PSU posted their biggest inning in the fifth with VanDerveer and Brackpool's bombs, which were both of significance. VanDerveer's led off the inning and was the first of her collegiate career while Brackpool's came on her birthday to make it 4-1.
PSU added more insurance in the sixth off of a Lexi Knief (Ramsey, N.J.) RBI single and in the seventh, Sorenson picked up another RBI, this time with a single up the middle to make it 6-1.
The Hogs would not go quietly into the south Florida night as they put up a three spot in the bottom of the seventh to make it 6-4, before Diescher tagged out Arkansas batter Sierra Bronkey to give PSU its first win of the year.
Collecting a pair of hits in the first game was Knief who went 2-4 as well as freshman Gianna Arrizurieta (Pembroke Pines, Fla.) who was 2-3 with a walk in her first career game. Reina Furuya (Waipahu, Hawaii) joined Knief, VanDerveer, Brackpool and Sorenson with runs batted in against the U of A as she plated hers with a sac bunt in the fourth.
Penn State (1-0) was scheduled to play a second game on Friday, vs. host FAU but the game was halted due to rain in the top of the third inning with the Owls leading 2-0. The game will be resumed on Sunday following the Lions' 9 a.m. contest with Kansas.
POST GAME NOTES
--Friday was the first time since Mar. 15, 2014 vs. Yale in Clearwater, Fla., that Penn State hit two home runs in one game. Then it was Reina Furuya and Kasie Hatfield going deep for the Lions.
--Penn State is now 21-30 all-time in season openers
--The Lions improve to 7-8 while playing at the FAU Softball Stadium
--Amanda Lehotak posted her 15th win as Nittany Lion head coach with the team's win over Arkansas
--Four Lion freshman made their first collegiate starts Friday in Gianna Arrizurieta (3B), Mia Monopoli (C), Mollie Sorenson (2B) and Alyssa VanDerveer (DP)
--VanDerveer and Sorenson both drove in their first career RBI and VanderVeer knocked the first home run of her career