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April 30, 2017
COLLEGE PARK, Md. - In a comeback win, the Penn State softball team notched its third Big Ten Conference series victory of the 2017 season with a 7-5 game three win over the Terrapins of Maryland Sunday, April 30 at Maryland Softball Stadium.
The Nittany Lions were down 4-0 through three innings before scoring four runs in the top of the fourth and taking the lead for good in the top of the fifth inning. The Blue and White tallied eight hits to score seven runs with both Kristina Brackpool (Valencia, Calif.) and Tori Dubois (Mt. Vernon, N.H.) driving in multiple RBIs. Brackpool led the Nittany Lions with three RBIs, while Dubois went 3-for-4 at the plate with two RBIs and scoring once.
Senior Marlaina Laubach (Northampton, Pa.) earned the win in the circle, throwing 3.2 innings in relief and Jessica Cummings (Owings, Md.) picked up her first save of the season hurling the final three outs of the game.
Amanda Brashear drove in three of Maryland's five runs on the day and scored twice, while Anna Kufta brought in two runs for the Terrapins. Hannah Dewey suffered the setback in the circle, tossing the first 3.1 innings to start the game.
For the first time all weekend, the Terrapins were the first to open up scoring as they used a single and a Penn State error to put a runner in scoring position before a slow roller to second allowed Juli Strange to score the unearned run from third base.
Errors once again plagued the Nittany Lions in the bottom of the second when a dropped pop up put a runner on second base and single in the hole at second plated the second unearned run of the game for Maryland and extended its lead to 2-0.
UMD scored for the third-straight inning when Brashear singled in the hole at short and crossed home on a Kufta triple down the third base line with one out. The hit forced a Penn State pitching change but the Terrapins would use one final single in the inning to take a 4-0 advantage in the third.
Dubois started a Penn State comeback in the top of the fourth inning when she singled up the middle before back-to-back walks loaded the bases with no outs for the Nittany Lions. With bases juiced, Brackpool stepped in and roped a double over the third baseman's head and into the left field corner to clear the bases and bring the Blue and White within one, 4-3. Penn State's surge continued in the top of the fourth as Destiny Weber (Grafton, Ohio) knotted the score at 4-4 on a pinch-hit groundout to the right side of the infield.
Penn State saw its first lead of the game in the top of the fifth inning when Jessica Haug (Jamison, Pa.) singled through the infield and capitalized on a Terrapin error to make her way to third base. Haug touched home when Toni Polk (Niagara Falls, N.Y.) drove a two-out hopping single up the middle to put the Nittany Lions up 5-4. The two-out rally continued as Dubois drove her second triple of the series into the right center gap to bring in two more Penn State runs and force the second pitching change of the game for UMD.
Laubach and the Penn State defense shut down the Maryland offense for three-straight innings before the Terrapins found back-to-back singles to start the seventh and Cummings entered in on relief. The junior hurler notched back-to-back groundouts with one run coming across before closing out the game with a strikeout.
Up Next:
Penn State will conclude the 2017 regular season Friday, May 5-Sunday, May 7 when the No. 4 Golden Gophers of Minnesota come to Happy Valley for a three-game contest. The Nittany Lions will play a 6 p.m. game on Friday before celebrating Breast Cancer Awareness Day on Saturday at 2 p.m. on the Big Ten Network. Finally, Penn State will honor the careers of its five seniors Sunday, May 7 at 1 p.m.