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Apr. 22, 2016
WASHINGTON, D.C - The Penn State softball team split the final day of GW Capital Classic earning a 7-1 victory over Niagara before falling 7-1 to George Washington 7-2 in its second game of the day.
The Nittany Lions (12-14) went 3-1 on the weekend picking up two wins over Niagara and splitting with George Washington.
Senior Kristina Brackpool (Valencia, Calif.) led the Blue and White at the plate with four hits on the day and five RBI, while Rebecca Zielger (Tucson, Ariz.) had three hits, one RBI and scored three times. Junior Jessica Cummings (Owings, Md.) notched the win in the circle in game one, throwing five innings and senior Marlaina Laubach (Northampton, Pa.) suffered the loss in game two tossing 3.2 innings.
Game One: Penn State 7, Niagara 1
Brackpool went 3-for-4 at the plate and drove in four of the Nittany Lions' seven runs including a three-run homer, while Ziegler had two hits and scored twice against the Purple Eagles.
Penn State's offense got started early with three-straight hits, including a home run from Brackpool to give the Nittany Lions the 3-0 lead before a shallow single to left field put extended the Blue and White lead to 4-0 in the first inning.
Niagara loaded the bases in the top of the second and used a two-out ground out to Cummings to come within three of Penn State. Ziegler answered the Purple Eagle run with a solo home run in the bottom half of the inning to bring the Penn State lead to 5-1.
With a runner on first, Brackpool hit a blooper between first and right field that allowed Sorenson to score and gave Penn State the 6-1 advantage in the fourth inning. The Blue and White tacked on its seventh run in the bottom of the fifth inning when Sam Shanahan (Seattle, Wash.) singled up the middle to score Toni Polk (Niagara Falls, N.Y.), who drew a walk earlier in the inning.
The Blue and White held off the Purple Eagles in the final inning to earn the 7-1 win.
Game Two: George Washington 7, Penn State 2
The Nittany Lions' first inning scoring continued into the final game of the tournament as Ziegler came around to score on a Brackpool single up the middle to give the Blue and White the 1-0 lead. George Washington answered in the bottom half of the inning on a bloop single over second base to knot the score at 1-1.
Penn State found itself behind for the first time in the weekend in the bottom of the fourth inning when two errors put runners in scoring position and a single into left field scored one. The Colonials tacked on four more two-out runs to take a 6-1 lead into the fifth inning.
George Washington put runners on first and third and created a pickle situation between first and second that plated the runner on third and extended the Colonial lead to 7-1 after five innings.
The Blue and White tried to start a two-out rally in the top of the seventh inning when an error and back-to-back singles brought in a run but a strikeout ended the game as Penn State fell 7-2 to the Colonials
Up Next:
Penn State will open its 2017 home season Wednesday, March 22 when Robert Morris comes to town for a mid-week doubleheader starting at 5 p.m.