March 30, 2018
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PISCATAWAY, N.J. - Rutgers used a seventh inning surge to take the 6-5 victory over Penn State softball in game one of the three-game Big Ten Conference series Friday, March 30 at RU Softball Complex.
The Scarlet Knights trailed by one heading into the bottom of the seventh and used two hits to score two runs and earn the one-run victory over the Nittany Lions.
Penn State was led by junior Tori Dubois (Mt. Vernon, N.H.), who hit her second home run in as many games with a two-run homer in the top of the first inning, while freshman Dani Fey (Bangor, Pa.) tallied a team-high two hits, drove in one RBI and scored once for the Nittany Lions. Senior Gianna Arrizurieta (Pembroke Pines, Fla.) and sophomore Destiny Weber (Grafton, Ohio) each had one hit and one RBI on the day for the Blue and White.
Weber was fierce in the field for the Blue and White, making two huge defensive plays on the hot corner, while Delaney Elling (Washington, Pa.) also had a big diving catch for Penn State.
Senior Jessica Cummings (Owings, Md.) threw 4.1 innings for Penn State and Madison Shaffer (New Castle, Pa.) suffered the loss in the circle coming on in relief to pitch the final 2.0 innings.
Erin Collins drove in the game winner on a fielder's choice in the bottom of the seventh for Rutgers, while Rebecca Hall went 3-for-4 at the dish, drove in two runs and scored twice. Relief pitcher Whitney Jones earned the win for the Scarlet Knights, pitching the final 3.0 innings.
Dubois put the Nittany Lions on the scoreboard in the top of the first inning as she launched her second home run in as many games over the center field fence to score two for the Blue and White. Penn State forced a pitching change following the first inning and with a runner on second base, Arrizurieta knocked a single into center field to bring in the runner on second and extend the Nittany Lion lead to 3-0.
Rutgers used a home run of its own in the bottom of the third when Hall hit a two-run round-tripper to bring the Scarlet Knights within one, 3-2, with no outs. Cummings and the defense worked out of the inning to hold onto its 3-2 lead going into the fourth inning.
Penn State answered in the top of the fourth inning scoring two runs when Weber singled through the left side and then touched home on a shallow single from Fey into center field. Rutgers saw its second no-out home run of the day to lead off the bottom of the fourth inning to cut the Penn State lead to two, 5-3.
The Scarlet Knights did not stop there as they loaded the bases with one out and knocked a single through the right side of the infield to come within one of the Blue and White. Penn State retired the final out it needed to maintain the one-run lead with two innings left to play.
After a scoreless sixth inning, back-to-back singles and a passed ball moved runners 60 feet from home in the bottom of the seventh for the Scarlet Knights and an infield hit-and-run tied the game with no outs. Rutgers pushed the winning run across the plate on a hit-and-run back to Shaffer to take the walk-off 6-5 victory.
Up Next:
The Nittany Lions and Scarlet Knights will play game two of the three-game series Saturday, March 31 at 1 p.m. at the RU Softball Complex.