April 6, 2018
Final Stats | PSU Photo Gallery
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
April 6, 2018
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The Penn State softball team fell 14-2 in six innings to the University of Michigan in Big Ten Conference action Friday, April 6 at Nittany Lion Softball Park and Beard Field.
"I thought we played really well for five innings," said head coach Amanda Lehotak. "The sixth inning, shouldn't have been a seven run inning, we should've been out of that inning. But, I feel pretty good about giving Meghan Beaubien two earned runs; she is one of the best pitchers in the country. We just need to make plays, when we can make plays. Other than that, it is a three-game series, and it is all about tomorrow right now."
Pinch hitter Amanda Grieco (Basking Ridge, N.J.) led the Nittany Lion offense with a double into left center that scored Penn State's two runs in the bottom of the fifth inning. Also coming away with hits against the Wolverines were Tori Dubois (Mt. Vernon, N.H.) and Destiny Weber (Grafton, Ohio), who both singled.
Senior Jessica Cummings (Owings, Md.) went 5.2 innings in the circle before senior Ashton Mensinger (Nescopeck, Pa.) came on in relief to get the final out of the sixth inning for the Penn State defense.
Four Wolverines drove in two runs on the day, while Madison Uden went 3-for-4 at the plate with two RBI and three runs scored. Beaubien threw 5.0 innings in the circle, giving up two earned runs on three hits and Sarah Schaefer came in to throw the final inning.
The Wolverines opened up scoring in the top of the second inning bringing in three runs on four hits and a Penn State fielding error. Penn State worked itself out of a bases loaded no-out jam in the top of the third inning capped off with a strikeout from Cummings and a foul out fly ball to left field.
Faith Canfield doubled into center field before Natalie Peters roped a home run over the center field wall to extend the Michigan lead to 5-0 in the top of the fourth. Michigan saw its second home run of the day, this time a leadoff round-tripper from Lou Allan, to bring its lead to 6-0 in the top of the fifth.
Kennedy Legg (Keller, Texas) had a big leadoff at-bat for the Blue and White in the bottom of the fifth with a walk and advanced to second on a Weber single to shallow right field. A sacrifice bunt moved runners into scoring position before Grieco stepped into pinch hit and ripped a double to the left center field wall to bring Penn State within five, 7-2.
Michigan put on the offensive pressure in the top of the sixth inning, scoring seven runs on five hits and capitalizing on a second Penn State error to take a 14-2 advantage.
The Nittany Lions were sat down in order in the bottom of the sixth as they fell 14-2 in six innings in game one.
Up Next:
Penn State and Michigan will play game two of the series Saturday, April 7 at Nittany Lion Softball Park and Beard Field at 3 p.m.