Feb. 24, 2018
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Feb. 24, 2018
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - The Penn State softball team was unable to secure a win on day two of the Jacksonville Tournament, falling 5-1 in game one against Western Carolina before dropping a tight game against Jacksonville, 3-2, in game two Saturday, Feb. 24.
Junior Madison Shaffer (New Castle, Pa.) had a day in the circle for the Nittany Lions, throwing 9.1 innings with 12 strikeouts. The junior right-handed hurler tied a career-best four strikeouts against the Catamounts before going on to set a career-best with eight strikeouts against the Dolphins, including two innings in which she struck out all three batters.
Shaffer took the loss in game two after going 5.1 innings, while senior Jessica Cummings (Owings, Md.) was handed the loss in game one against the Catamounts, giving up three runs in the first inning.
Junior Tori Dubois (Mt. Vernon, N.H.) led Penn State at the dish with three hits on the day and one RBI, while sophomore Delaney Elling (Washington, Pa.) had one RBI against Jacksonville and Amanda Grieco (Basking Ridge, N.J.) had one RBI against Western Carolina.
Game One: Western Carolina 5, Penn State 1
The Catamounts scored early as a leadoff single touched all four bases on a walk and two wild pitches to take a 1-0 lead before a wild pitch and a bases-loaded walk brought in two more runs, allowing WCU to take a 3-0 advantage in the top of the first.
Kailey McNeil extended the Western Carolina lead to 4-0 in the top of the third inning when she launched an out-out home run over the left center field wall.
Penn State saw its first hit of the game in the bottom of the third inning when freshman Dani Fey (Bangor, Pa.) singled up the middle and advanced to second when Dubois was hit by a pitch. Both were left on the bases as Western Carolina secured the final two outs of the inning before the Blue and White could push one across.
The Catamounts used an infield single with a runner on second to extend its lead to 5-0 in the top of the fourth inning. Penn State looked to close the gap in the bottom half of the inning when Gianna Arrizurieta (Pembroke Pines, Fla.) worked a one-out walk before Christa Wagner (Plainville, Mass.) had a pinch hit infield single and Destiny Weber (Grafton, Ohio) was hit by a pitch to juice the bases with one out for the Blue and White. With bases loaded, Grieco hit a sacrifice fly into center field to score what would prove to be the lone run of the contest for Penn State.
The Nittany Lions could not plate any further runs in the final three innings of at-bats, falling 5-1 to the Catamounts in their first contest of the day.
Game Two: Jacksonville 3, Penn State 2
Fey had a big lead off at-bat for the Blue and White, drawing a walk and working her way to third base on a sacrifice bunt and an infield groundout. With two outs on the board, Dubois dug in and laced a single up the middle to give Penn State the 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning.
After throwing four innings with four strikeouts in game one, Shaffer came out and tied the four strikeouts in the first two innings of action against the Dolphins, striking out three in the first inning before getting one in the second to help maintain the 1-0 Nittany Lion lead.
Jacksonville loaded the bases in the bottom of the third inning before the Nittany Lions tried to turn a double play but the ball hit the runner and sailed into right field, allowing two runs to cross the plate on the throw and give the Dolphins the 2-1 lead after three complete.
Shaffer's gem continued into the fifth inning when she posted her second inning of the game in which she struck out all three batters in the JU lineup.
Penn State put runners into scoring position in the top of the sixth inning with two outs. Elling stepped into the box and roped a single down the left field line to bring in a run and knot the score at 2-2.
Jacksonville responded in the bottom of the sixth inning with a leadoff triple and a single through the left side of the infield to take a 3-2 lead with one out on the board. Arrizurieta caught a fly ball to right field and put a throw right into the glove of Fey at home to secure the double play and get out of the inning before any further runs were plated.
The Blue and White looked to have the momentum on its side going into the seventh but Penn State went down in order in its final at-bats, falling 3-2 to the Dolphins.
Up Next:
Penn State concludes the JU Tournament Sunday, Feb. 25 with a 9 a.m. contest against James Madison.