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April 23, 2017
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The Penn State softball team dropped a 6-4 game three to the Scarlet Knights of Rutgers in a Big Ten Conference contest Sunday, April 23 at Nittany Lion Softball Park and Beard Field.
The Nittany Lions (20-26, 6-11 B1G) led 4-2 with one inning to play before Rutgers battled back to score four runs in the top of the seventh and eventually take the 6-4 win. However, Penn State locked up the series victory after taking the wins on both Friday and Saturday.
Redshirt-sophomore Rebecca Zielger (Tucson, Ariz.) led Penn State with two hits, one RBI and one run, while Kristina Brackpool (Valencia, Calif.), Tori Dubois (Mt. Vernon, N.H.) and Sam Shanahan (Seattle, Wash.) each brought in one run for the Nittany Lions. Senior Marlaina Laubach (Northampton, Pa.) threw six innings and Madison Seifert (Wildwood, Mo.) took the loss throwing one inning in relief.
Four Scarlet Knights tallied two-or-more hits on the day with Nicolette Anico going 3-for-4 at the plate and scoring one run, while Nicole Bowman went 2-for-3 with three RBIs and touching home twice. Whitney Jones notched the win in the circle, throwing 6.2 innings in relief against the Nittany Lions.
Rutgers knocked three-straight singles to the left side of the field to open up game three and take the 1-0 lead with no outs in the top of the first inning. Laubach and the defense retired the next three batters of the inning to trail by one heading into the bottom half. The Nittany Lions quickly knotted the score at 1-1 when they loaded the bases and Brackpool was hit by a pitch to bring in the run.
Zielger started a two-out rally in the bottom of the second doubling off the center field wall and coming around to score on a Dubois single up the middle to allow Penn State to take a 2-1 lead. The Blue and White extended its advantage to 3-1 in the bottom of the fourth inning when Christa Wagner (Plainville, Mass.) reached on a Scarlet Knight fielding error and touched home on a Ziegler rope through the right side of the infield.
Penn State continued to build on its lead in the bottom of the fifth with back-to-back hits to put runners on the corners with one out. Shanahan came on to pinch hit and laid down a suicide squeeze to plate a run and give the Nittany Lions a 4-1 advantage.
Rutgers came within two, 4-2, in the top of the sixth inning with two doubles to right center and left center field. The Scarlet Knights battled in the top of the seventh, loading the bases with two outs. A ball in the sun allowed a bases clearing single to fall and give RU the 5-4 advantage. Rutgers tacked on one final security run to carry a two run lead, 6-4, into the bottom half of the inning.
Penn State was retired in order in the bottom of the seventh and were unable to secure the win over the Scarlet Knights.
Up Next:
The Nittany Lions will close out their seven-game home slate Wednesday, April 26 with a rescheduled contest against the Red Flash of Saint Francis (Pa.). Game one of the doubleheader is set for 5 p.m. at Nittany Lion Softball Park and Beard Field.