Feb. 7, 2015
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| FAU Kick-Off Tournament | |
FAU Softball Stadium | Boca Raton, Fla.
| POST GAME LINKS |
| Game 1: Box Score (HTML) | (PDF) |
| Game 2: Box Score (HTML) | (PDF) |
| Play-byPlays: Game 1 |Game 2 |
VIDEO: Postgame Interviews
(Lehotak/VanDerveer/Jones)
| BOX SCORE |
BOCA RATON, Fla. - The Penn State softball team improved to 3-0, Saturday with wins over LIU Brooklyn (9-1) and Georgia Tech (3-2) during the second day of the FAU Kick-Off Tournament, hosted by Florida Atlantic.
The Lions were led by clutch hitting as well as solid pitching and defense in the field, which enabled them to win the first three games of their season for the first time since 1997.
After a run ruled five inning contest in game one against LIU Brooklyn, PSU got out to a quick 2-0 lead after three on their ACC foes. Kristina Brackpool (Santa Clarita, Calif.) drove in the game's first run on a sac fly set up by a Reina Furuya (Waipahu, Hawaii) sac bunt and a Alyssa VanDerveer (Hillsborough, N.J.) single.
Then in the third, Furuya drove home Alicia Walker (Los Alamitos, Calif.), who doubled earlier in the inning. The Lions would hold their slim lead thanks in large part to some defensive gems by Brackpool at first and Mia Monopoli (San Francisco, Calif.) behind the plate. Brackpool caught a liner in the third and doubled up a Yellow Jacket runner to end a two on and one out rally, while Monopoli caught a great throw from leftfielder Macy Jones (Ashburn, Va.) in the fourth and tagged out at the plate what would have been Tech's first run of the contest.
After the Jackets plated two to tie things up in the sixth, Jones came in from left to relieve starter Christy Von Pusch (Bryn Mawr, Pa.) and pitched her team out of a jam, setting the stage for Brackpool's second bomb of the season, this time over the left field wall to make it 3-2 PSU.
Jones went out for the seventh and tossed a perfect inning to secure her first win of the season and her team's third in as many games.
In the first game vs. LIU Brooklyn, VanDerveer's smashed a three RBI double, plating half of the six runs scored by the Lions in the second inning.
Senior Marissa Diescher (Livingston Manor, N.Y.) had another solid outing on the heels of her first appearance of season, going five and giving up just one run on three hits while striking out three. She was credited with the win and moves to 2-0 on the season.
Other Penn State players with banner days at the plate in the 9-1 drubbing of the Eagles included Furuya, who went 2-3 with an RBI. Jones along with junior transfer Erin Pond (La Grange, Ohio) also had a pair of hits while freshman Mollie Sorenson (Stevenson Ranch, Calif.) drove in two runs, one of which was a hit by pitch with the bases loaded. She plated a run in similar fashion on Friday night vs. Arkansas.
In all, four Nittany Lion freshman combined for seven of the nine PSU runs, including Monopoli and Gianna Arrizurieta (Pembroke Pines, Fla.), who both drove in their first collegiate RBI.
Head coach Amanda Lehotak saw her team improve to 3-0 with the pair of victories and will take on Kansas, Sunday morning at 9 a.m. and then resume its suspended game with Florida Atlantic from Friday night at approximately 11:15 a.m.