UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The Penn State softball team (17-16, 2-3 Big Ten) dropped a close battle with No. 25 Wisconsin (26-5, 3-2 Big Ten) in game two of the series, 3-2, Saturday afternoon at Nittany Lion Softball Park and Beard Field.
"Obviously we had a much better performance today," said head coach Amanda Lehotak. "I knew we'd come out a lot better today. I thought Hannah Shields did a great job on the mound and keeping them off balance was exactly what we needed to do. I thought we had some poor offensive innings where we gave away at-bats, but the biggest thing is I thought they fought hard. We saw them fight until the end. I'm glad we have another shot at Wisconsin tomorrow."
Penn State got on the board first with a solo shot to left field by freshman Chelsea Bisi, her sixth of the season, a team-high.
Junior transfer Hannah Shields and the Nittany Lion defense kept a ranked Wisconsin team off the board until the top of the third when the Badgers had two solo home runs to take the 2-1 lead.
The offense struggled to get the bats going in the middle innings before batting back in the bottom of the sixth to make it a 2-2 tie game.
Senior leader Tori Dubois came in as a pinch hitter as the lead-off in the inning and singled up the middle to get on base. Dani Fey then reached on a fielder's choice to leave a runner on for the top of the line-up with one out.
Senior Toni Polk then hit a double up the left field line that took a lucky bounce off the bag to skip in to the corner and allow Fey to advance all the way to third. The following play saw Fey score the tying run on Claire Swedberg's at-bat.
The Badgers scored the eventual winning run in the top of the seventh after a lead-off double and then a sacrifice bunt and a single scored the runner.
Shields continued her no walk-zone ways, not allowing a single free base in 6.1 innings pitched. The State College native also struck out three.
Penn State will look to pick up a win in the series in the finale on Sunday at noon at Nittany Lion Softball Park and Beard Field. The game will be the Nittany Lions' season debut on the Big Ten Network with Chris Vosters and Elise Menaker on the call.
Limited tickets are still available and can be purchased at the gate ahead of the game.