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April 29, 2018
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The Penn State softball team sent its three seniors off in style as junior Tori Dubois (Mt. Vernon, N.H.) hit a walk-off home run in the bottom of the ninth inning to allow the Nittany Lions to take a 4-3 victory over Illinois in the Big Ten Conference series finale Sunday, April 29 at Nittany Lion Softball Park and Beard Field.
The Nittany Lions honored Gianna Arrizurieta (Pembroke Pines, Fla.), Jessica Cummings (Owings, Md.), and Ashton Mensinger (Nescopeck, Pa.) in a senior day celebration prior to the game against the Fighting Illini.
"What an exciting day," said head coach Amanda Lehotak. "I feel so good for our seniors, for our kids, for grinding away and playing hard until the end especially in front of all our fans again. I can't say enough about the performance of really the entire team for never giving up and for keeping attacking. [Madison] Shaffer starting us off doing great, then Jess [Cummings] coming in and really shutting it down. Tori [Dubois] didn't have a weekend that she's used to having. She could have gone mental in that situation, but that shows her poise and mental toughness for her to come through when we needed her."
The contest between Penn State and Illinois saw three lead changes and one tie as the Fighting Illini got the first lead of the game before the Nittany Lions battled back to take a lead of their own. The two teams remained tied through four innings of action before Dubois propelled Penn State to victory.
Dubois led the Nittany Lions with the walk-off home run to seal the victory, while freshman Dani Fey (Bangor, Pa.) had two hits on the day for the Blue and White. Junior Meghan Williams (Bethlehem, Pa.) roped the first triple of her career to drive in a run for the NIttany Lions, while Toni Polk (Niagara Falls, N.Y.) and Paige Johnson (Clarksville, Tenn.) each scored a run.
Junior Madison Shaffer (New Castle, Pa.) earned the start in the circle, throwing four complete innings before Cummings entered to finish her final game at Beard Field. Cummings went five innings to take the victory, giving up just two hits. The Penn State pitching staff gave up just one earned run on the day, as Illinois scored two runs on passed balls, one of which reached on an error.
The Fighting Illini loaded the bases in the top of the second inning with one out. The Blue and White got the second out of the inning with a play at the plate but a wild pitch scored one to allow Illinois to take an early 1-0 lead over Penn State.
The Nittany Lions answered in the bottom half of the inning, moving runners into scoring position with two outs on the board. An infield error with a runner on third pushed a run across the plate for the Blue and White, tying the game at 1-1 after two complete innings.
Penn State continued to pressure in the bottom of the third inning as it had a runner on first with two outs. Williams took the first pitch and had one strike on her before ripping a perfectly placed ball down the right field line and into the corner, allowing Johnson to touch home to give the Nittany Lions a 2-1 advantage.
An early error in the top of the fourth inning came around to score on a passed ball to tie the game at 2-2 and a second passed ball brought in the go-ahead run for the Fighting Illini. With runners on first and second and two outs Penn State had another answer inning as Fey singled up the middle to knot the game for the second time of the day at 3-3 in the bottom of the fourth inning.
Neither team was able to score despite getting multiple base runners for the next three innings, sending the game into extras. With the game on the line in the bottom of the ninth, Dubois ripped a first-pitch solo home run off the scoreboard to lift Penn State to a home season-ending victory over Illinois.
Up Next:
Penn State concluded the 2018 season Friday, May 4-Sunday, May 6 when it travels to Minneapolis, Minnesota for a three-game Big Ten Conference series against the Golden Gophers.