BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – The Penn State softball team (5-30, 5-30 Big Ten) was bested twice by Indiana (23-17, 23-17 Big Ten) Saturday afternoon in a doubleheader to conclude the series at Andy Mohr Field.
Game 1: Indiana 4, Penn State 1
Indiana senior ace Emily Goodin kept the Nittany Lions off balance offensively in game one with only three hits and one run scored.
The Hoosiers took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first after a lead-off triple and then a RBI groundout for the first run of the game.
Junior Lilia Crouthamel singled through the left side in the top of the second with two outs but was stranded to end the frame.
Indiana added another run in the third on three hits to make it 2-0, but the defense stood strong to stay in the game.
In the top of the fifth, Crouthamel had a lead-off infield single for her second hit of the game. Sophomore Kaitlyn Morrison then advanced Crouthamel to second on a sacrifice bunt and senior Dani Fey reached on an error to put runners on the corners for the Nittany Lions with two outs.
Penn State then used aggressive baserunning to get on the board with a successful delayed-steal play. Fey started to lead off from first to get the catcher to throw to second in hopes of scoring Crouthamel from third and as the throw went to first and then back home it rolled past the catcher and Crouthamel was safe to make it 2-1.
The Hoosiers then added two insurance runs on three hits in the bottom of the frame for the eventual 4-1 winning score.
Game 2: Indiana 17, Penn State 0 (5 innings)
Indiana started the scoring off early again in game two, hitting a two-run home run in the bottom of the first for the opening-frame advantage.
Penn State tried to counter with back-to-back hits from juniors Chelsea Bisi and Ally Kurland to start the second. The Nittany Lions eventually got runners to the corners, but Morrison was robbed at the fence on a near-home run to end the frame.
The Hoosiers then put an offensive stamp on the game, scoring eight runs on seven hits and an error in the bottom of the second to take a 10-0 lead. They add three more runs in the third and four in the fourth for the eventual 17-0 winning score.
ON DECK
Penn State stays on the road for one final away series in the 2021 season. The Nittany Lions will play at doubleheader against Michigan State in East Lansing on Tuesday, May 11 starting at noon. This is to make up two of four games that were postponed out of an abundance of caution back in mid-April.
GAME NOTES
- Junior Lilia Crouthamel recorded her fourth multi-hit game of the season in game one.