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March 25, 2017
ANN ARBOR, Mich. - The Penn State softball team suffered an 8-0 five-inning loss to the No. 19 Michigan Wolverines at Alumni Field in a Big Ten Conference contest Saturday, March 25.
Redshirt-sophomore Rebecca Zielger (Tucson, Ariz.) and senior Kristina Brackpool (Valencia, Calif.) tallied the only two hits of the game for the Nittany Lions (12-16, 0-2 B1G), while sophomore Madison Seifert (Wildwood, Mo.) suffered the loss in the circle giving up seven hits to the Wolverines.
Faith Canfield went 2-for-3 at the dish with three RBI and Amanda Vargas also earned a multi-hit game with two base knocks and one RBI for the Wolverines (21-7-1, 2-0 B1G). Tera Blanco earned the win in the circle pitching five innings and giving up two hits.
Michigan used a lead off single, a Penn State fielding error and a single through the right side of the field to take an early 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning with no outs. The Wolverines added to their score on a wild pitch and a sacrifice fly, extending their lead to 3-0 in the bottom of the first inning.
Penn State looked to make a dent in the score in the top of the second inning when it loaded the bases on a hit batter and two walks but a ground out to second closed out the inning before the Nittany Lions could push a run across the plate.
Michigan built on its lead in the bottom of the third inning with a Canfield solo home run and a sacrifice fly to left field to extend the lead to 5-0. The Wolverines put runners on first and third for Canfield, who tripled down the first base line to clear the bases and a wild pitch brought in the eighth run of the game for Michigan in the bottom of the fourth.
Ziegler led off the top of the fifth with a single up the middle and advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt but the Wolverines retired the next two batters in order to earn the 8-0 five-inning victory.
Up Next:
Penn State and Michigan will conclude the three-game conference series Sunday, March 26 with a 1 p.m. game at Alumni Field.