March 10, 2015

STOCKTON, Calif. - Led by the arm of sophomore hurler Marlaina Laubach (Northampton, Pa.), the Penn State softball team split its doubleheader with Pacific Tuesday in Northern California by identical 2-1 scores.

Laubach went the full seven innings in game two, giving up just five hits and one run to secure her fourth win of the season. She did not allow a hit until the third inning as she sent down the first six Tiger batters who came to the plate.

Pacific plated its lone run in the third off a one out RBI double but then Penn State answered in the fifth with a pair of runs to take a 2-1 advantage.

The Lions loaded the bases in their half of the fifth with a Reina Furuya (Waipahu, Hawaii) walk and back-to-back singles from Shannon Good (Horseheads, N.Y.) and Mollie Sorenson (Stevenson Ranch, Calif.)

That set the stage for a Shelby Miller (Sugar Land, Texas) RBI single, followed by a bases loaded walk to Alicia Walker (Los Alamitos, Calif.), which forced home the go ahead and eventual winning run.

In the first game, Amanda Lehotak's squad got out to a quick 1-0 lead after an RBI single by Macy Jones (Ashburn, Va.) with the bases loaded. From there starter Marissa Diescher (Livingston Manor, N.Y.) held the Tiger battery at bay for the first three innings but then gave way to Jessica Cummings (Owing, Md.) after getting into a bases loaded one out jam.

Cummings worked out of trouble, getting the final two outs on a fielder's choice to the plate and a strikeout to preserve the slim one run lead.

Pacific would tie the game in the fifth off of a home run by its second baseman and then win the game in walk-off fashion by way of an infield single in the bottom of the seventh, making a 2-1 final.

Miller had quite the day at the plate for the Blue and White in the doubleheader, going 3-7 with an RBI, while Walker also was quite busy on the offensive side of things, mustering a pair of hits to go along with an RBI and a run scored.

With the split, Penn State moves to 9-10 on the season and will next take part in the Capital Classic hosted by Sacramento State, scheduled for Mar. 12-14.

The Lions will first play Grand Canyon and host Sac State on Thursday before a single game against Loyola Marymount on Friday. They close out the tournament on Saturday with games against LMU and the Mustangs.