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Apr. 2, 2016
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - For the second-straight weekend the Penn State softball team recorded a Big Ten Conference sweep capped off with an 8-6 win over Michigan State University Saturday, Apr. 2 at Nittany Lion Softball Park and Beard Field.
The Nittany Lions (17-14, 6-0 B1G) are off to its best conference start in program history with a 6-0 record in Big Ten play, surpassing its previous best start of 5-0 in the 2000 campaign. Furthermore, the weekend sweeps of Rutgers and Michigan State mark the first time Penn State has swept back-to-back conference series since the 2011 season when the Blue and White earned two two-game series sweeps over Ohio State and Northwestern, May 11-13. Moreover, the back-to-back sweep marks the first time that PSU has swept two-straight conference series since the Big Ten adopted the three-game format in 2012.
Penn State is currently riding a seven-game win streak, which ties the second-longest win streak in program history. The 2006 Nittany Lions hold the record with a 16-game win streak dating from Feb. 24 to Mar. 25.
The Blue and White offense remained red-hot against the Spartans as it tallied its fourth-straight game with 10-or-more hits and its 17th of the season. Senior Macy Jones (Ashburn, Va.) continued to be the spark plug of the Nittany Lion offense, launching two home runs in game three against the Spartans. Jones is the first Penn State softball player to hit two home runs in one game since Cassidy Bell belted two against LSU, Mar. 2, 2013. Jones went 3-for-3 at the plate with four RBI and extended her reached base streak to 21 games.
Also posting a solid day at the plate was freshman Tori Dubois (Mt. Vernon, N.H.) who launched her first career home run in bottom of the third inning to give Penn State the 7-6 edge. Dubois went 2-for-4 on the day with two RBI for the Blue and White. Sophomore Mollie Sorenson (Stephenson Ranch, Calif.) also notched a multi-hit game with two hits, while Alyssa VanDerveer (Hillsborough, N.J.) and Lexi Knief (Ramsey, N.J.) each brought in a run.
McKenzie Long led the Michigan State (19-17, 1-5 B1G) offense going 2-for-4 at the dish with a two run home run, while Sarah Gutknecht had one hit and two RBI for the Green and White. The Penn State offense forced Michigan State to use three pitchers with middle reliever Dani Goranson (6-6) suffering the loss after tossing 2.0 innings and giving up five runs, two of which were earned.
Freshman Madison Seifert (Wildwood, Mo.) notched the win in the circle, pitching 4.0 innings of relief. The right-handed hurler gave up five hits and did not allow a run to cross the plate, earning her sixth victory of the season.
The Spartans got out to the early lead, capitalizing on a Penn State error in the top of the first inning, which turned into two unearned runs for MSU.
The Nittany Lions did not let the early deficit phase them using a walk to Jones and a single from Sorenson to put runners into scoring position. The second walk of the inning loaded the bases for the Blue and White before a ground out to first allowed PSU to bring in a run.
Michigan State tacked on its third run of the game in the top of the second inning when a lead off single crossed the plate on a groundout to short.
In true Penn State fashion, the Nittany Lions got their offense going with a two-out rally in the bottom of the second inning when Reina Furuya (Waihapu, Hawaii) walked and stole second before Jones blasted her fifth home run of the season off the scoreboard in left field to knot the score at 3-3.
The offense continued into the top of the third inning when MSU used a leadoff single from Echols before a rope into the left field corner from Gutknecht scored a speedy Echols from first to give the Spartans a 4-3 lead. Michigan State tacked on two more runs using a two-run round-tripper from Long over the right center field wall to extend its lead to 6-3.
Penn State chipped away at the MSU lead in the bottom of the third when Knief made her way to third base on a Spartans throwing error before Dubois blasted the second home run of the day and first round-tripper of her career off the scoreboard.
Jones put control back into Penn State's hands in the bottom of the third inning when she launched her second homer of the day and sixth of the season over the left center field wall to give Penn State the 7-6 lead.
With bases loaded and two outs for the Michigan State offense in the top of the fourth inning, Seifert and the Nittany Lions defense secured the final out of the inning to maintain its one-run lead heading into the bottom half of the inning.
Penn State continued to tack on runs in the bottom of the fourth inning when VanDerveer singled with an infield pop up to get on base for the Blue and White before Pond singled to shallow left field, scoring VanDerveer from third base.
Michigan State hoped to force a bottom half of the seventh inning when Gutknecht drew a leadoff walk on a pitch just off the plate to put a runner on first. However, the Penn State defense locked in to retire the next three hitters in order to earn its seventh-straight victory.
The Nittany Lions continue conference action Wednesday, Apr. 6 when they travel to Columbus, Ohio for a mid-week doubleheader against the Buckeyes of Ohio State. The two game series is slated to start at 4 p.m. and will be featured on the Big Ten Network.