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Feb. 12, 2016
BOCA RATON, Fla. - The Penn State softball team was swept on day one of the FAU "Kick-Off" Classic, falling to Wright State and SIUE at the FAU Softball Complex.
In game one, the Raiders (1-0) picked up a 2-0 victory over the Nittany Lions (0-2) before SIUE (1-0) battled back to take a 4-3 victory over the Blue and White in game two.
Junior Marlaina Laubach (Northampton, Pa.) suffered the loss in the circle in game one, while Madison Seifert (Wildwood, Mo.) was tagged with the loss in game two.
Junior Shelby Miller (Sugar Land, Texas) led all Penn State hitters on the day with three hits and one RBI, while Kristina Brackpool (Valencia, Calif.) and Macy Jones (Ashburn, Va.) each brought in one run on one hit. Sophomore Mollie Sorenson (Stevenson Ranch, Calif.) and senior Lexi Knief (Ramsey, N.J.) also had multi-hit days with two each.
Wright State 2, Penn State 0
PSU fell in a 2-0 decision to Wright State in its first game of the 2016 campaign. Sorenson and Miller led the Nittany Lions; each tallying two hits in game one, while Toni Polk (Niagara Falls, N.Y.) and Reina Furuya (Waipahu, Hawaii) had a hit apiece. Laubach suffered the loss in game one, going six innings with six strikeouts and giving up just four hits.
Honnah Susor drove in the lone RBI of the of the game with a sacrifice fly to right field, while pitcher Ashley Sharp went the distance with two strikeouts for the Raiders.
The Blue and White came out with hot bats, lacing two singles through the infield in the top of the first before Polk secured her first collegiate hit with a hard hit ball in the left center gap.
The Raiders got their offense going in the bottom of the fourth when Macey Gunther doubled off the left field wall and Libby Pfeffer followed it up with a shallow single to center field. With Gunther on third, a wild pitch was thrown which allowed Wright State to take a 1-0 lead with one out. WSU loaded the bases with an infield single before a sacrifice fly to right field scored a second run. With runners on first and third, Laubach struck out the final batter of the inning before any further runs could cross the plate.
The Nittany Lions looked to get something going in the top of the fifth with a Furuya single up the middle to lead off the inning but was tagged out at second on a slow roller to second base.
Penn State was unable to generate a rally in the final inning, falling 2-0 to the Raiders in the first game of the season.
SIUE 4, Penn State 3
After Seifert retired the first three batters in order, the Penn State offense lit up with a double from Knief. The senior outfielder came around to score the first run of the season for the Nittany Lions when Jones drove a double to the right center wall to allow Penn State to take the 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning.
The Blue and White looked to tack on more runs in the bottom of the third, putting runners on first and second after capitalizing on two SIUE errors before Sorenson laid down a bunt single on the third base line to load the bases. The Cougars recovered from the miscues, retiring the next three batters in order to close out the inning before Penn State could push any runs across the plate.
An error in the top of the fourth inning proved to be detrimental to PSU as Alyssa Heron came around to score on a Rachel Keller two-out single up the middle to knot the score at 1-1.
The Cougars looked to take the lead in the top of the fifth inning, using a fielder's choice and a single up the middle to put runners in scoring position with two outs. With two strikes, Jordan LeFave ripped a line shot to left center that was snagged by a diving Knief to keep the contest tied at 1-1.
Furuya got things going for Penn State in the bottom of the fifth inning with a single up the middle followed by a shallow Knief single to center field to put runners on the corners for Miller.
Miller laced a single down the left field line to give the Nittany Lions a 2-1 lead before Brackpool ripped a single past the short stop to extend the Penn State lead to 3-1. SIUE answered back in the top of the sixth inning with back-to-back singles followed by a one-out double in the left field gap to tie the score at 3-3.
SIUE threatened to take the lead in the top of the seventh when LaFave drove a double off the wall but the Penn State defense stepped up and made a perfect relay play to the plate to get the runner, keeping the game tied at 3-3. Jones came on in relief of Seifert with two outs before Heron laced a triple down the right field line to take a 4-3 lead into the bottom of the seventh.
Miller was hit by a pitch with two outs in the seventh, put the Nittany Lions were unable to move her around the bases, falling 4-3.
The Blue and White will have a rematch with SIUE Saturday, Feb. 13 at 9 a.m. before going up against Tulsa at 3:45 p.m. on day two of the "Kick-Off" Classic.