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April 1, 2017
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - Following a thrilling seventh inning at Nittany Lion Softball Park and Beard Field, the Penn State softball team split its home opener against Big Ten Conference foe Indiana Saturday, April 1. The Blue and White (13-19, 1-4 B1G) fell 6-1 in game one before coming back and taking a 3-2 victory in the tail end of the doubleheader.
"First of all, it felt amazing to be at home, I can't even express to you what it's like to play 30 games on the road," noted head coach Amanda Lehotak. "I thought we had a great crowd tonight and I hope we gave the Penn State fans the effort they deserved. I just want to thank our fans for coming out and supporting us on a sunny day, 40 degrees."
The Nittany Lions were led by junior Mollie Sorenson (Stephenson Ranch, Calif.) and sophomore Tori Dubois (Mt. Vernon, N.H.) as both tallied three hits on the day and one RBI. Sorenson and Dubois both went 2-for-3 at the plate and drove in one RBI apiece, while senior Shelby Miller (Sugar Land, Texas) brought in the lone run in game one on a sacrifice fly. Sorenson was also a force on the infield, turning two double plays on the day for the Blue and White.
Sophomore Madison Seifert (Wildwood, Mo.) suffered the loss in game one against Indiana, pitching 2.2 innings, while Jessica Cummings (Owings, Md.) threw 4.1 innings of relief. Freshman Madey Smith (Washington, N.J.) threw 6.0 innings in her third win of the season with four strikeouts and senior Marlaina Laubach (Northampton, Pa.) picked up her first save of the season coming in with runners on second and third with no outs to shut down the Hoosiers (17-17, 3-2 B1G).
Rachel O'Malley paced Indiana with four hits and three RBI on the day, including a double in game two to bring the Hoosiers within one with no outs in the top of the seventh inning. CaraMia Tsirigos went 2-for-2 at the plate in game one and drove in two runs, while walking twice for the Hoosiers. Tara Trainer earned the win in game one, throwing 5.0 innings and Emily Kirk suffered the loss in game two, tossing six innings.
Game One: Indiana 6, Penn State 1
Tsirigos opened the scoring in game one when she launched a solo home run over the left field wall in the top of the second inning, allowing Indiana to take the 1-0 lead. The Nittany Lions looked to respond in the bottom half of the inning moving runners to second and third but a strikeout ended the inning and kept the Hoosiers on top, 1-0.
A leadoff walk and back-to-back hits into the grass brought in two runs for Indiana in the top of the third and extended their lead to 3-0 over the Blue and White. Penn State juiced the bases in the bottom of the inning with one out but Indiana retired the final two batters with infield groundouts as the Blue and White continued to trail the Hoosiers.
Indiana continued to build on its advantage in the top of the fourth inning as it scored two runs on two hits to extend its lead to 5-0 over the Nittany Lions.
Toni Polk (Niagara Falls, N.Y.) lead off the bottom of the fifth inning with a double into left field and moved to third on a wild pitch before coming around to score on a Miller sacrifice fly into center field to bring Penn State within four, 5-1.
The Hoosiers tacked on one final security run in the top of the seventh inning with a single from O'Malley with a runner standing on third base. Penn State was unable to generate any further offense as it fell 6-1 in the front end of the doubleheader to IU.
Game Two: Penn State 3, Indiana 2
After four and a half scoreless innings, Penn State lit up the scoreboard for the first time in the day when Rebecca Ziegler (Tucson, Ariz.) reached on a bunt single and came around to score on a Dubois double off the center field wall. With runners on first and third, Sorenson got herself into a pickle just long enough to allow Dubois to touch home and extend the Nittany Lions lead to 2-0 after four complete innings.
A walk and a single with two outs put runners into scoring position for Sorenson in the bottom of the sixth inning. The junior second baseman laced a shallow single into right center field to plate the third run of the game and extend the Penn State lead to 3-0.
The Hoosiers were able to string some hits together in the top of the seventh inning before loading the bases on an intentional walk. O'Malley stepped in and ripped a double into the right center field gap, bringing in two runs and forcing a pitching change with no outs with Penn State leading 3-2.
Laubach came on in relief with no outs and runners on second and third. The senior hurler forced a fly out and a groundout before battling with Erin Lehman for 11 pitches in the final out of the game. After working Lehman to a full count, Laubach forced her to fly out to right field to end the game with a 3-2 Penn State victory.
Up Next:
Penn State and Indiana close out its three-game Big Ten Conference series Sunday, April 2. The single game at Nittany Lion Softball Park and Beard Field is slated for 1 p.m. Fans who cannot make it out to Beard Field can catch all the action live on BTN Plus.