MIAMI, Fla. – The Penn State softball team fell to the Buffalo Bulls, 5-3, in the final game of the round-robin portion of the Panther Invitational Saturday morning at Felsberg Field.
Once the round-robin portion of the tournament concluded, Penn State was in a tie for first with Buffalo (2-1) and FIU (2-1), but would ultimately earn the No. 1 seed with the tiebreaker of runs allowed. With that, the Nittany Lions were set to face No. 4-seed Cleveland State at 6:15 p.m. until severe weather hit in the area and forced the game to be canceled.
Game 1: Buffalo 5, Penn State 3
The Nittany Lions ran with the Bulls in the first game of the game, but ultimately came up just short in a 5-3 loss.
Juniors Lexie Black and Cassie Lindmark both homered in the outing for the first time in their careers, but the solo shots weren't enough to match Buffalo's more timely hitting.
Buffalo started the game with a lead-off walk and a stolen base to already put a runner in scoring position with one out. A two-out single then scored the first run of the game for the early 1-0 Bulls lead.
Penn State fought back to tie the game at 1-1 in its first offensive frame with a single by senior Ally Kurland in the two-spot before Lindmark drew a hit-by-pitch and both runners advanced on a wild pitch to be in scoring position with one out.
Junior Michelle Leone then continued her hot bat to single up the middle to score Kurland to tie it up after one full inning.
The Bulls regained the lead in the top of the third on a two-run home run to make it 3-1 and would not give up the advantage for the remainder of the game.
Black got the Nittany Lions back within one in the bottom of the fourth with her dinger down the left-field line.
In the bottom of the fifth, Penn State loaded the bases with two outs with the second hits of the day by Leone and Black, but the Bulls would get themselves out of the jam to preserve the lead.
Buffalo added two runs on three hits in the top of the sixth to make it 5-2 before Penn State got another run back on Lindmark's solo home run in the bottom of the seventh for the eventual 5-3 scoreline.
Senior pitcher Kylee Lingenfelter started the game in the circle and went 4.0 innings with a career-high nine strikeouts. Classmate Bailey Parshall also made an appearance in relief, followed by freshman lefty Lydia Spalding's collegiate debut for 1.1 innings.
Game 2: No. 1 Penn State vs. No. 4 Cleveland State – CANCELED
The Nittany Lions and the Vikings will not end up matching up for the second time this weekend after severe weather cancelled games for the rest of Saturday night.
ON DECK
Due to Saturday evening's weather, Sunday's game schedule has been shifted for the final day of the Panther Invitational. Penn State will only play one game against host FIU at 1 p.m.
GAME NOTES
- Senior pitcher Kylee Lingenfelter set a new career high with nine strikeouts against Buffalo, besting her previous high of 7, done three times, including twice this season.
- Junior Lexie Black hit her first D1 home run against Buffalo after transferring to Penn State ahead of the 2021 season as she played her freshman season at a junior college in Colorado.
- Freshman pitcher Lydia Spalding made her Penn State debut against Buffalo in relief and pitched 1.1 innings while recording her first collegiate strikeout.
- Junior transfer Cassie Lindmark hit her first career home run against Buffalo.