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Feb. 23, 2018
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - The Penn State softball team split day one of the JU Tournament, falling 4-0 to UCF before bouncing back to earn a 4-2 victory over Jacksonville in game two Friday, Feb. 23.
The win marked the first of the season for the Nittany Lions as they secured hits, four of which were lead off base knocks to start the inning. Junior Tori Dubois (Mt. Vernon, N.H.) paced Penn State at the plate in game two, going 3-for-3 with two RBI, while freshman Dani Fey (Bangor, Pa.) led the Blue and White on the day with four hits and scored three runs against JU. Junior Toni Polk (Niagara Falls, N.Y.) also had a day at the plate for Penn State with three hits and two RBI against the Dolphins.
In the circle, senior Jessica Cummings (Owings, Md.) started both games before earning the win in game two after re-entering late in the contest. Also seeing time in the circle were Madison Shaffer (New Castle, Pa.) and Ashton Mensinger (Nescopeck, Pa.). Mensinger took the loss in game one, throwing one inning and giving up one run.
Game One: UCF 4, Penn State 0
Fey led the Nittany Lions at the plate against the Knights, going 2-for-3, while Amanda Grieco (Basking Ridge, N.J.), Paige Johnson (Clarksville, Tenn.), and Polk all tallied one hit each. Cumming earned the start in the circle, throwing two complete innings to start the game before coming back in in the final inning for the Blue and White. Mensinger took the loss in the circle, surrendering one run and Shaffer threw two innings for the Nittany Lions.
Both teams were getting runners on base each inning but were unable to drive them in until the bottom of the fourth when back-to-back hits moved runners to second and third for the Knights and the first run of the game came in on a wild pitch from Shaffer. The Knights added one final run to its tally in the bottom of the fourth inning on a throwing error to take a 2-0 lead into the fifth inning.
The Nittany Lions continued to get runners on base as a walk and a two-out single to right field from Fey put runners in scoring position but a strikeout from UCF would end the inning before the Nittany Lions could push a run across the plate in the sixth.
UCF loaded the bases in the bottom of the sixth inning before a single up the middle plated two runs and extended the Knight's lead to 4-0.
Penn State put two runner aboard in the top half of the seventh inning but back-to-back outs retired the final two batters of the inning as the Blue and White fell 4-0.
Game Two: Penn State 4, Jacksonville 2
Dubois got things started for the Nittany Lions in the top of the second inning when she ripped a double straight off the center field wall and advanced to third on a bunt single from Polk, however, Penn State was unable to take the early lead as JU retired the next three batters in order.
The Blue and White continued to put pressure on the Dolphin defense as Destiny Weber (Grafton, Ohio) laced a lead off single up the middle before the Nittany Lions loaded the bases on a hit batter and a Johnson single through the right side. Dubois dug in and roped her second hit of the game with a hard-hit single through the right side of the infield to bring in Weber from third. Polk secured the third-straight hit of the inning for the Nittany Lions when she chopped a ball up the middle and plated the second run of the inning to give Penn State the 2-0 lead heading into the bottom of the third.
Jacksonville tried to answer in the bottom half of the inning, loading the bases Cummings came back to strikeout one and got a fly out to center field to get out of the inning unscathed.
The Dolphins laid down a sacrifice bunt to move runners into scoring position before Kristen Griffith ripped a single up the middle to score both and knot the score at 2-2 with one out. Cummings responded with a strikeout before the Nittany Lions closed out the inning.
Penn State responded to the JU runs in the top of the fifth inning when Fey used the third-straight lead off hit of the game and a sacrifice bunt to get into scoring position and force a Dolphin pitching change. Dubois ripped her third hit of the game through the middle of the infield to bring in her second RBI of the contest and take back the Penn State lead.
Jacksonville threated again in the bottom of the sixth inning getting runners on first and second with no outs before Cummings re-entered and got two ground outs before striking out the final batter of the inning to allow Penn State to maintain its 3-2 advantage heading into the final inning of play.
Fey roped the fourth lead off hit of the inning for the Blue and White with a single back at the pitcher before touching home on a Polk stand up double off the left center field wall to tack on one final security run for the Nittany Lions with half an inning to play.
Penn State sat down the first two batters of the inning before Madison Ragan singled through the left side of the infield to keep the Dolphins alive for one more batter. The Nittany Lions picked up the final out they needed to earn their first victory of the season.
Up Next:
The Nittany Lions will kick off day two of the JU Tournament at 2:30 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 24 with Western Carolina before finishing the day with Jacksonville at 7:30 p.m.