April 11, 2015
| 4 | 5 |
| Beard Field | University Park, Pa. | Attn: 566 | |
| POST GAME LINKS |
| Box Score: (HTML) | (PDF) | Play-by-Play |
| FINAL STATISTICS |
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- Despite a two-run rally in the bottom of the sixth inning, the Penn State softball team's comeback attempt fell short to Indiana Saturday, as the Lions fell to the Hoosiers 5-4.
PSU cranked out 11 hits and slammed another home run (it's 33rd of the season) but was unable to overcome an IU grand slam in the fourth which gave Indiana a commanding 5-0 lead.
IU plated the game's first run in the second inning off of starter Marlaina Laubach (Northampton, Pa.) and then added to the lead its next time at bat on a homer with the bases loaded.
The Nittany Lions scored their first run off of a Macy Jones (Ashburn, Va.) grounder which resulted in a fielder's choice an RBI to cut the Hoosier lead to 5-1. Jones came to the plate with the bases loaded after back-to-back-to-back singles by Lexi Knief (Ramsey, N.J.), Mollie Sorenson (Stevenson Ranch, Calif.) and Shelby Miller (Sugar Land, Texas).
Amanda Lehotak's squad kept chipping away at their four run deficit with one in the fifth and two in the sixth. Alyssa VanDerveer's (Hillsborough, N.J.) RBI single accounted for her team's second run and then Erin Pond led off the sixth with a home run to leftfield to make it 5-3.
After pinch hitter Shannon Good (Horseheads, N.Y.) walked, Sorenson doubled home her team's fourth run to cut the Crimson & Cream lead to just one. Unfortunately the Blue & White comeback would fall short after that as the Lions were retired in order during the bottom of the seventh.
After Laubach's shaky third, she settled in retiring the next six batters she faced and giving up only three more hits the rest of the way. The sophomore hurler was given the loss and goes to 9-7 on the season.
Even though the outcome was less than desired there still were some bright spots to Saturday's contest as it marked the 11th straight game in which Penn State has hit at least one long ball and piled up double-digit hit totals.
Jones also now has a team best 11 game hit streak dating back to the doubleheader with Robert Morris (Mar. 25), while a handful of Penn State batters had multi-hit afternoons vs. Hoosier pitching. Knief, Sorenson, Miller, VanDerveer and Pond each registered two base knocks in the loss.
PSU now 21-19 and 4-7 in B1G play will try to salvage the series with a win in the finale on Sunday. First pitch at Nittany Lion Softball Park and Beard Field is slated for 1 p.m.