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May 6, 2017
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. ââ'¬" The Penn State softball team was unable to overcome the offense of the No. 4 Golden Gophers of Minnesota, falling 14-1 in game two of the Big Ten Conference series Saturday, May 6 at Nittany Lion Softball Park and Beard Field.
The Nittany Lions kept the game within reach in the first inning, scoring one run on a Delaney Elling (Washington, Pa.) single to right field but it would be all Penn State could push across the plate in the five-inning contest. Also tallying a hit for the Blue and White were sophomore Tori Dubois (Mt. Vernon, N.H.), senior Jessica Haug (Jamison, Pa.) and sophomore Toni Polk (Niagara Falls, N.Y.).
Sophomore Madison Shaffer (New Castle, Pa.) got the nod in the circle, pitching two outs, while Madey Smith (Washington, N.J.) and Amanda Ferlisi (Hamilton, N.J.) each saw innings of work for Penn State.
Dani Wagner led Minnesota with three hits, four RBIs and three runs, while Sara Groenewegen brought in two runs and scored once. Freshman Amber Fiser earned the start in the circle, throwing three innings before Carlie Brandt came on in relief in the final two innings.
The Golden Gophers jumped out to an early start over the Nittany Lions in game two of the series, scoring six runs on three hits in the top of the first inning. Penn State got one back in the bottom half of the inning, moving a runner to third before a shallow single to right field from Elling brought the Blue and White within five, 6-1.
Minnesota answered with a run of its own in the top of the second when a single from MaKenna Partain moved runners to first and third before a ground out to the right side of the field allowed Kendyl Lindaman to touch home and extend the lead to 7-1.
A leadoff home run and a wild pitch with a runner on third base proved detrimental for the Nittany Lions in the top of the third inning as Minnesota tacked on two runs and took a 9-1 lead. The Golden Gophers used five hits to bring in five more runs in the top of the fourth inning and give them the 14-1 advantage.
Again, Penn State battled in the bottom of the fifth inning to try and avoid the mercy putting runners on base with a single up the middle from Haug and single to shallow center field from Polk but a groundout closed out the contest before the Nittany Lions could push any runs across the plate.
Up Next:
Penn State will honor its six seniors in its final regular season game Sunday, May 7 at 1 p.m. against the Golden Gophers.