SAN MARCOS, Texas – The Penn State softball team dropped a pair of contests Friday night to the Texas State Bobcats, with the home squad picking up a 2-1, eight-inning victory in the lid lifter before turning in a 6-0 result in the nightcap from Bobcat Softball Stadium.
Following Friday night's pair of losses, the Nittany Lions drop to 15-6 overall and complete their weeklong trip through the state of Texas with a 4-5 ledger, including a quintet of losses against RPI top 25 opponents according to the NCAA. With their pair of victories on Friday night, Texas State secured the weekend series sweep and improved to 20-6 overall on the 2024 campaign with its Sun Belt Conference-opening series against James Madison on deck next week. The Bobcats improve to 3-2 in the all-time series with PSU following the weekend's results.
In the batter's box, four different Nittany Lions mustered a total of five hits on the day, with senior catcher Gaby Garcia leading the way in game one with a 2-for-3 outing and an RBI single. Junior left fielder Maddie Gordon's run of success at the plate continued in the first game of the evening, with the Shenandoah, Virginia, native going 1-for-2 with a pair of walks and a run scored. In the second game of the day, senior shortstop Kaitlyn Morrison turned in a 1-for-3 final line while senior third baseman Emily Maddock recorded a hit and a sacrifice bunt in Friday's finale.
PSU called on a trio of pitchers to work through the doubleheader in San Marcos, with junior right-hander Mady Volpe booking the start with 5.0 innings pitched, three hits, one earned run and a trio of strikeouts over 71 total pitches. Sophomore Paige Maynard was saddled with both losses Friday, earning the start in the nightcap against the Bobcats. Junior left-hander Lydia Spalding tossed 3.0 innings in relief of Maynard in the nightcap, yielding a trio of hits and two earned runs. The highlight of the day came from the Nittany Lion defense, which executed the third triple play in Division I softball this season. The 3-4-6-2-5 play was aided by a runner's interference call against Texas State's Anna Jones. PSU joined Ball State and DePaul as the only trio of teams in the nation to book a triple play this season.
The Blue & White started strong in the top of the first inning, pulling ahead by an early 1-0 margin through the frame. After back-to-back putouts put two away for the Nittany Lions, Gordon extended her hitting streak to seven games with a single up the middle. Gordon proceeded to steal second base, and Brunson was hit by a Bobcat pitch to put runners on first and second. Garcia proceeded to book PSU's second single up the middle in the frame, plating Gordon for the opening score. The Bobcats were able to bring the tying run home in the bottom half of the first, and after an uneventful regulation on the scoreboard, Texas State walked things off in the bottom of the eighth. In the second game of the night, Morrison led the game off with a single, and Maddock added a hit of her own in the seventh inning, but a two-run second frame from Texas State followed by a four-run effort in the sixth proved too much for PSU, with the Bobcats closing out the 6-0 result.
TOP NITTANY LION PERFORMERS (GAME ONE)
Gaby Garcia | 2-for-3, RBI
Maddie Gordon | 1-for-2, R, 2 BB
Mady Volpe | 5.0 IP, 3H, 1R, 1ER, 2BB, 3K, 71TP
TOP NITTANY LION PERFORMERS (GAME TWO)
Emily Maddock | 1-for-2, SAC Bunt
Kaitlyn Morrison | 1-for-3
Lydia Spalding | 3.0 IP, 3H, 2R, 2ER, 1BB, 0K, 56TP
KEY INNINGS (GAME ONE)
T1 | After back-to-back putouts put two away for the Nittany Lions in the top of the first, Gordon extended her hitting streak with a single up the middle. Gordon proceeded to steal second base, and Brunson was hit by a Bobcat pitch to put runners on first and second. Garcia proceeded to book PSU's second single up the middle in the frame, plating Gordon for the opening score. PSU 1, TXST 0
B1 | Hannah Earls led off with a single to left field and Ciara Trahan executed a sac bunt that allowed Earls to reach third. After Sara Vanderford drew a walk and stole second, Anna Jones booked an RBI grounder to the second baseman that brought Earls in. PSU 1, TXST 1
B8 | Katarina Zarate was placed on second in line with international tiebreaker rules, and Emilee Baker reached on a fielding error by the PSU shortstop. Earls then reached on a fielder's choice, with Baker advancing to second and Zarate reaching third due to a fielding error by the third baseman. Trahan logged the game-winning RBI with a sac fly to left that brought Zarate in. TXST 2, PSU 1
KEY INNINGS (GAME TWO)
B1 | After a pair of Bobcat strikeouts, Vanderford singled up the middle and Jones logged an infield single that struck the pitcher, allowing Vanderford to reach second. A double from Karmyn Bass to right field plated Vanderford, and Jones recorded an unearned score brought on by a PSU throwing error. TXST 2, PSU 0
B6 | Vanderford doubled to right field and Jones singled to left to put runners on the corners. Jones promptly stole second, and a Bass double to right plated both runners. Sydney Harvey pinch ran for Bass at second and advanced to third on a passed ball. Piper Randolph drew a walk and stole second, and after a popout, Zarate walked to load the bases once more. After a Bobcat strikeout, Earls recorded an infield single that plated Randolph and Harvey. TXST 6, PSU 0
UP NEXT
Penn State softball returns home to Happy Valley and prepares for its 2024 home opener against the Lehigh Mountain Hawks. The 14th season of softball at Nittany Lion Softball Park and Beard Field begins with a 5:30 p.m. (ET) first pitch on Thursday, March 14. PSU's contest against Lehigh christens the third annual Penn State Softball Invitational, with the Blue & White set to host the Mountain Hawks in addition to Cornell, Canisius and Binghamton over the weekend of March 14 through March 17.
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