Michigan State University
15-17, 0-5
Penn State
17-15, 2-3
Penn State Nips Spartans, 7-4
3/28/2015 12:00:00 AM | Softball
East Lansing, Mich. -- A three-run first inning put visiting Penn State on the board early, and they padded their lead in the bottom of the sixth to post a 7-4 win over Michigan State in the first half of a doubleheader at Secchia Stadium on Saturday afternoon. Mollie Sorenson had three hits for Penn State, which extended its winning streak to four games over the Spartans.
The Nittany Lions jumped on the board in the top of the first, after Lexi Knief led off with a fly out to left field. Mollie Sorenson and Shelby Miller hit back-to-back singles up the middle, and Macy Jones followed with a shot to center, her sixth home run of the year. Zalewski closed out the inning with a pair of groundouts around a Erin Pond single, limiting the damage to three runs.
In the bottom of the second, Shanin Thomas reached on an error by the first baseman, and took second as the ball rolled into foul territory. Luna battled through a 13- pitch at bat, finally breaking through with a single to left that moved Thomas to third. In a double steal, Luna got run down between first and second, scoring Thomas to put the Spartans on the board. The inning was retired as Stoffer was just nipped on a ball hit to the left side of the infield, but MSU did trim the PSU lead to 3-1.
The visitors got the run back in the top of the third, as Sorenson led off with a triple to right center, and came home on a Miller single to right to push the Penn State lead to 4-1. In the bottom half of the inning, MSU rallied to knot the game at four,
A pair of doubles by Mia Monopoli and Lexi Knief allowed the Nittany Lions to push a run across with one out in the top of the fifth, and then they loaded the bases as Sorenson returned a ball up the middle for a single, and Zalewski hit Miller. Jones lined out to Luna at third, and she nearly doubled Miller off first; but Zalewski got out of the jam with a strikeout of Alyssa VanDerveer.
The Nittany Lions made a pitching change in the bottom of the fifth, bringing in Jessica Cummings in relief. She hit her first batter Thomas, but got Luna and Stoffer on consecutive strikeouts to bring up McBride with one on and two out. She got McBride to ground out to the circle, ending MSU's threat.
The Nittany Lions tried to rally for some insurance runs in the top of the seventh, getting runners at second and third with one out. Kassidy Kujawa robbed Megan Tupino of a base hit with a nice catch in left - which would have likely scored at least one run - for the second out of the inning, but Monopoli drove both of them in with a single up the right side, the ball just eluding a diving McKenzie Long. With a 7-4 lead, pinch hitter Meghan Bradley lined out to third to end the inning - but not before the visitors padded their lead.
Freimuth's two-out single up the middle was MSU's lone hit in the seventh, and she was stranded when Foerster hit a ground ball up the middle, eliminating Freimuth at second to end the game.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: LAUBACH (9-6)
L: Zalewski, Kristina (11-9)
Batting:
2B: KNIEF 1
HR: JONES 1
RBI: KNIEF 1 ; SORENSON 1 ; JONES 3 ; VANDERVEER 1 ; POND 1 ; TUPINIO 1 ; MONOPOLI 2 ; FURUYA 1
SH: SORENSON 1
Base Running:
RUNS: KNIEF 3 ; SORENSON 1 ; JONES 2 ; VANDERVEER 1 ; POND 2 ; TUPINIO 1 ; FURUYA 1
HBP: FURUYA 1
Batting:
2B: Freimuth, McKinzie 1 ; Foerster, Lea 1 ; Kujawa, Kassidy 1 ; Sanders, Stephanie 1
RBI: Freimuth, McKinzie 2 ; Kujawa, Kassidy 2 ; Long, McKenzie 1 ; Sanders, Stephanie 3 ; Luna, Destinee 1 ; McBride, Alyssa 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Freimuth, McKinzie 1 ; Foerster, Lea 2 ; Kujawa, Kassidy 3 ; Gutknecht, Sarah 1 ; Sanders, Stephanie 1 ; Luna, Destinee 1 ; Stoffer, Ellie 1
SB: Foerster, Lea 1 ; Long, McKenzie 1
