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Feb. 18, 2018
DURHAM, N.C. - The Penn State softball team had a 7-2 setback to Duke on day three of the Big Ten / ACC Challenge Sunday. Feb. 18.
Sophomore Delaney Elling (Washington, Pa.) led the Nittany Lion offense with two hits and one RBI and substitute Kennedy Legg (Keller, Texas) also tallied two hits on the day afternoon for the Blue and White.
Penn State pitched by committee with Madison Shaffer (New Castle, Pa.) getting the start, Ashton Mensinger (Nescopeck, Pa.) pitching the middle innings and Jessica Cummings (Owings, Md.) closing out the game for the Blue and White.
Both teams were retired in order in the first inning before Duke opened up scoring in the second with back-to-back hits to take a 1-0 lead with no outs. Penn State used a hard-hit ball to first to secure the first out of the inning, but the Blue Devils notched the second double of the frame and brought in a second run to allow Duke to go up 2-0 in the second.
The Blue Devils put two runners on base with singles on the left side of the field and a triple off the right field wall plated both base runners to extend Duke's lead to 4-0 in the top of the fourth before Penn State made a pitching change with one out and a runner on third. Mensinger retired the first two batters she faced with a fly out to left and a ground out to second, but a single up the middle would score one final run in the inning for Duke to put it up 5-0 over Penn State.
The Nittany Lions made their first offensive strike in the bottom of the fourth inning when freshman Haley Vallejos (Chandler, Ariz.) and Elling knocked back-to-back singles through the infield to put runners on second and third with no outs. Two rundowns on a fielder's choice ball following a strikeout stopped the offensive threat for the Blue and White before it could push a run across the plate.
Duke tacked on one run in the top of the fifth inning to take a 6-0 lead over the Nittany Lions with two and a half innings to play.
The Blue and White looked to start a one-out rally in the bottom half of the inning with four-straight batters reaching base on three hits and a fielder's choice. The Nittany Lions brought in a run on an overthrow to third before loading the bases on a single into right field from Amanda Grieco (Basking Ridge, N.J.) with one out. Elling stepped in with two outs and laced a single through the left side of the infield to bring Penn State within four.
Duke added one final security run in the top of the seventh inning with a sacrifice fly to left field with a runner on third base. The Nittany Lions were unable to string anything together in their final at-bats, falling 7-2.
Up Next:
The Penn State softball team will play its next five contests at the JU Tournament when it travels to Jacksonville, Florida Feb. 23-25. The Nittany Lions will take on UCF, host Jacksonville, JMU, and Western Carolina.