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March 18, 2018
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - Freshman Dani Fey (Bangor, Pa.) led off the bottom of the ninth inning with a double into left center field for junior Tori Dubois (Mt. Vernon, N.H.), who placed a single over the second baseman's head to score Fey from second and secure the nine-inning 11-10 series win over Kent State for the Penn State softball team Sunday, March 18 at Nittany Lion Softball Park and Beard Field.
The Blue and White battled for their victory over the Golden Flashes as it came back to tie the game in both the bottom of the seventh and bottom of the eighth, scoring four runs in the seventh and two in the eighth. In total, the Nittany Lions tallied a season-high 11 runs on 14 hits and did not make an error in the field.
"I would just like to say that I'm really proud of my kids today," stated head coach Amanda Lehotak. "They never gave up. It wasn't pretty in some areas of the game, but they fought. It was good to see our offense kind of rise to the occasion. I think I said it yesterday, I've been saying it all year, we do fight. We play hard. It's good to finally get one to go our way."
Junior Toni Polk (Niagara Falls, N.Y.) led all hitters at the plate with three hits and four RBI, including a three-run home run in the bottom of the seventh to bring Penn State within one of the Golden Flashes, while sophomore Destiny Weber (Grafton, Ohio) drove in the tying runs in the bottom of the eighth inning on a single up the middle.
Dubois and Paige Johnson (Clarksville, Tenn.) also tallied multi-hit games for the Blue and White with two each, while Johnson, Gianna Arrizurieta (Pembroke Pines, Fla.), and Kennedy Legg (Keller, Texas) drove in one run apiece.
In the circle, senior Jessica Cummings (Owings, Md.) got the start before Madison Shaffer (New Castle, Pa.) came on in relief. Cummings re-entered the game to close out the victory and earn her second win of the 2018 season. As a team, Penn State worked the Kent State pitching staff as it drew nine walks on the day and had only one strikeout.
The Nittany Lions first two batters of the game were retired before the following four hitters worked the count to four-straight walks to allow Penn State to take the 1-0 lead with two outs on the board in the bottom of the first inning. Following a pitching change, a deep fly out to the left field wall closed the inning with the Blue and White leading 1-0.
A leadoff single to center field came around to score when a hard hit ball down the third base line bounced off the glove of Weber and into no-man's land to tie the game at 1-1 in the top of the second. The Golden Flashes used three hits in the top of the third inning to take the 3-1 advantage over Penn State.
The Blue and White put runners into scoring position for Legg, who laced a single through the right side of the infield to bring Penn State within one of KSU with one out on the board. The scoring did not stop there for the Nittany Lions as Arrizurieta hit a sacrifice fly to center field to knot the game at 3-3 to end the third inning.
Kent State re-gained the lead in the top of the fourth on a two-run homer over the center field wall to give the Golden Flashes the 5-3 advantage. Penn State answered for the second time in the game when Johnson doubled over the second baseman's head to plate one run and bring the Nittany Lions within one after four complete innings.
Jade Williams stepped in to pinch hit in the top of the fifth with two runners on base and roped a triple down the right field line, scoring two and extending the Kent State lead to 7-4 in the bottom of the fifth inning. A solo home run in the top of the sixth inning allowed the Golden Flashes to go up 8-4 over the Blue and White.
Trailing by four, the NIttany Lions put runners on first and second with no outs before Polk blasted a three-run homer over the center field fence to bring Penn State within one. With bases loaded and two outs a wild pitch scored the tying run for Penn State to force extra innings with the game locked at 8-8.
Kent State scored two runs on a double into left field with bases loaded in the top of the eighth inning to take a 10-8 lead. Penn State rallied in the bottom of the eighth inning to load the bases with one out for Weber, who stepped in a laced a single up the middle to allow two to touch home and tie the game for the third time.
Cummings and the Penn State defense kept Kent State scoreless in the top of the ninth, giving itself a chance to take the win in the bottom half of the inning. Fey led off with a double into left center and would touch home on a second pitch single over the second baseman's head from Dubois to allow the Nittany Lions to notch an 11-10 walk-off victory at Beard Field.
Up Next:
Penn State continues its home stand Wednesday, March 21 when Hofstra comes to Nittany Lion Softball Park and Beard Field.