March 24, 2012
Game One Box Score | Game Two Box Score
ANN ARBOR, Mich. - Penn State softball fell twice to No. 20 Michigan on Saturday in front of 1,687 fans at UM's Alumni Field. The Wolverines took game one 11-2 in five innings before winning the nightcap, 12-4 in six innings. The two teams return on Sunday (1:00 p.m.) to the Wilpon Family Complex for the final matchup of the three-game set.
GAME ONE
Penn State (7-16, 0-1 Big Ten) was unable to overcome a hot-hitting Wolverine squad in an 11-2 Big Ten opening loss on Saturday afternoon. Lisa Akamine (Escondido, Calif.) highlighted the Penn State effort with a two-run home run in the fifth inning.
Michigan (19-9, 1-0 Big Ten) broke the scoreless stalemate in the bottom of the third, capitalizing on three walks and a wild pitch with four hits and an error to take a 5-0 lead. The Wolverines sent nine batters to the plate with four of the runs earned, but the inning ended on a double play. Nicole Sappingfield hit a grounder to short stop Alyssa Renwick (Laurens, S.C.) for the second out of the inning and Lauren Sweet tried to advance to third, but it was occupied by Amy Knapp as Lauren Yao (Los Angeles, Calif.) tagged Sweet out.
Michigan added another run in the fourth for a 6-0 lead, but Penn State starter Akamine belted her third career home run in the top of the fifth, cutting the lead to 6-2. Her homer to left-centerfield scored Kasie Hatfield (Tampa, Fla.) who tallied PSU's first hit of the day off Michigan hurler Haylie Wagner (13-4).
The Wolverines returned fire in the bottom of the fifth, scoring five runs capped by an Amanda Chidester two-run home run to end the game at 11-2. Wagner's line was five innings, two earned runs, two walks and three strikeouts.
GAME TWO
The Nittany Lions (7-17, 0-2 Big Ten) gathered four runs including Cassidy Bell's (Bakersfield, Calif.) first home run of the year in a 10-4 loss on Saturday evening at Alumni Field. Michigan (20-9, 2-0 Big Ten) leapt out to a 5-0 lead after a two-run first inning, a Sweet home run and two more tallies in the second inning as the Wolverines won their third in a row. Bell went 2-for-3 with the homer in her first appearance to the diamond since an appendectomy.
The Nittany Lions answered the call in the top of the fourth against Michigan starter Sara Driesenga. Kailyn Johnson (Yorba Linda, Calif.) walked to lead off and an error at second put runners on first and second. Alyssa Sovereign (La Canada, Calif.) walked and Kasie Hatfield (Tampa, Fla.) ripped a double down the leftfield line to score two, forcing Michigan to replace Driesenga with Wagner.
The lefty reliever got a strikeout for the first out of the inning before a passed ball made the score 5-3 in favor of Michigan. A Danee Collett (Rogersville, Tenn.) chopper to third cut down Hatfield attempting to score at home before Collett was thrown out at second attempting to take the base on a pitch in the dirt.
The Wolverines continued their torrid hitting in the fourth as Stephanie Kirkpatrick's three-run home run highlighted a five-run effort, giving Michigan a 10-3 advantage. Bell, who returned from an 18-game absence due to an appendectomy, laced a homer to right field, her fist of the season and ninth of her career.
Michigan went on load the bases in the bottom of the sixth with no outs as Taylor Hasselbach doubled to centerfield, scoring two runs and ending the game at 12-4 on a run-rule. Wagner won her second decision, improving to 14-4, while Marissa Diescher (Livingston Manor, N.Y.) dropped to 2-5 on the year.
The three-game Penn State-Michigan series concludes Sunday at 1:00 p.m. the game will be broadcast live on BTN.com's Student-U initiative as well as live stats on GameTracker. Penn State softball's official Facebook (PennStateSoftball) and Twitter (@PSULionSoftball) will also post updates.
--NITTANY LIONS--