March 26, 2015
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -
By Miranda Kulp, GoPSUsports.com Student Staff Writer
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- Sophomore Shelby Miller and freshman Alyssa VanDerveer led the charge as the Penn State softball team defeated Robert Morris 2-0 and 9-1 in Wednesday night's doubleheader.
The Lions made their presence known at the plate. As a team, strikeouts improved from 11 in the first game to only two in the second.
"I think comparing the two games, we seemed much more relaxed at the plate during the second game," said head coach Amanda Lehotak.
In the opener, the blue and white got on the board early with a pair of runs during the first inning with a single by VanDerveer and a throwing error by RMU.
Although the Lions weren't able to increase those runs, the team stayed focused and determined to prevent the Colonials from scoring.
"I would say defensive play is extremely important. Sometimes during a game we're faced with a pitcher, like Robert Morris's, who knows how to keep off us the bases and that's when the team really needs to adjust our hitting approach and make sure we're staying focused on the field," said coach Lehotak.
Although two runs may not be the biggest lead, pitcher Marlaina Laubach threw an impressive game by only allowing one hit through RMU's first six innings.
Ending the game with a 2-0 victory, the Lions took a break and came back with high energy and ready fir a strong start for the second game.
"One of the biggest aspects of being a coach is making sure the team's energy is good," said coach Lehotak. "It's never easy playing back-to-back games and we want to make sure our players are feeling good for the start of the second game."
Penn State quickly got on the board. Reina Furuya was walked with bases loaded to set up a double RBI by Mollie Sorenson.
"We started being aggressive early in the game, and I'm very happy with how we rebounded in game two"said coach Lehotak.
After tacking on another three runs, the blue and white increased the lead in the bottom of the fourth when Miller hit a homer to center field, bringing in two more runs to make the lead 7-0.
"I mean it always feels great when you get a home run," said Miller. " To me though it matters more that I was able to help my team today and I think we all did a great job being aggressive on the bases tonight."
Following Miller's lead, Alyssa VanDerveer hit her sixth homer of the season in the fifth inning.
"We showed a lot of focus while at bat and made sure we were swinging at the right pitches and that helped us get a lead early in the game," said VanDerveer.
In the beginning of the season, the Nittany Lions made it a mission to focus on the team's toughness and aggression while at bat and last night's game proved the team is heading in the right direction.
"I think one key aspect to the team's victory tonight was the general attitude we all had," said VanDerveer.
After Wednesday's sweep, Penn State will be back on the road with another B1G weekend series at Michigan State. The series will be a double header on Saturday followed by a Sunday matinee.