CLEARWATER, Fla. – The Penn State softball team (10-12) picked up two more wins on the first day of the USF Tournament Series, run-ruling Holy Cross in five innings, 11-3, before taking down a red-hot South Dakota State team, 5-4, in walk-off fashion, Friday at the Eddie C. Moore Softball Complex.
Freshman pitcher Kylee Lingenfelter picked up both victories in the circle for her fifth and sixth wins of the season.
The Nittany Lions have now won seven of their last nine games during their spring break tour.
Game 1 (5 innings): Penn State 11, Holy Cross 3
The bats were swinging early for the Nittany Lions in an 11-3 run-rule victory over Holy Cross in five innings in game one of the day. The 11 runs is the most runs Penn State has scored in a game this season.
Kylee Lingenfelter picked up the victory on the mound, tying her career high with six strikeouts. Melina Livingston and Halley Vallejos each recorded three RBI in the game.
Both teams went down in order in the opening frame before Penn State started to run away with the game in the top of the second.
Freshman Chelsea Bisi led the inning off with a home run to center field on the very first pitch of the inning, her second home run of the season, for the early 1-0 Nittany Lion lead.
Penn State then loaded the bases with one out after hits by Ally Kurland and Dani Fey and a walk by Vallejos. Livingston then singled to left field to score Kurland and keep the bases loaded.
The top of the order then saw Toni Polk hit by a pitch to score another run and Claire Swedberg recording a hit to score Fey for the 4-0 Penn State advantage at the end of the half inning.
The top of the third inning was similar for the Penn State offense, scoring four more runs. It started with a single down the left field line by Meghan Williams, followed by a triple by Vallejos to score Williams.
Fey and Livingston then both recorded their second hits of the day to score a run each.
Holy Cross then cut Penn State's eight-run advantage down to seven after a two hits in the bottom of the third.
Two walks to start the top of the fourth put Penn State runners on first and second with no outs. Williams then laid down a sacrifice bunt to advance the runners before Vallejos doubled for her second extra-base hit of the day to score two runs. Livingston's single to center field with two outs scored one more run for the 11-1 lead.
Holy Cross scored two more runs in the bottom of the fifth but Lingenfelter struck out the final batter to end the game.
Game 2: Penn State 5, South Dakota State 4
Penn State rallied from a 4-2 deficit in the bottom of the seventh with two outs for the 5-4 walk-off victory over South Dakota State, snapping the Jackrabbits' 10-game winning streak.
South Dakota State took the early 1-0 lead after three-straight hits to start the game. Lefty starter Bailey Parshall then struck out the next three batters to get the offense to the plate.
Penn State answered with three-straight hits of its own. Polk and Swedberg both put down perfect bunts and advanced to second and third with an error by South Dakota State to bring Tori Dubois to the plate with no outs.
Dubois singled up the middle to score both runners for the Nittany Lions to take the 2-1 lead after one.
The second inning was quiet for both teams before the Jackrabbits tacked on two more runs in the top of the third via a two-run home run for the 3-2 advantage.
Neither team scored any runs in the fourth and fifth innings. South Dakota State added an insurance run in the top of the sixth and threatened in the top of the seventh with the bases loaded before Lingenfelter got the Nittany Lions out of a jam.
In do or die time in the bottom of the seventh, Penn State scored the winning three runs on five hits, including two runs and three hits with two outs.
Livingston started the hot bats off with a double to right center. Then Polk singled to left field to put runners on the corners with one out.
Swedberg then scored Livingston on a fielder's choice to cut the Jackrabbits' lead to one. Amanda Grieco came to the plate with two outs and recorded her first hit of the day to put runners on first and second.
Bisi then doubled to left field to bring in the tying run and keep Grieco at third. Kurland walked things off for the Nittany Lions with a hit to left center to score the winning run.
Penn State is now 4-5 in one-run games.
ON DECK
Penn State continues play in the USF Tournament Series with two more games on Saturday. The Nittany Lions will face Central Michigan for the second time this season at 9:30 a.m. before playing Saint Joseph's at noon.
