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March 10, 2017
SEATTLE, Wash. - The Penn State softball team notched a 6-2 victory over South Dakota to open the day before falling to No. 8 Washington, 15-0, in a five-inning night game Friday, March 10 at Husky Softball Stadium.
Redshirt-sophomore Rebecca Ziegler (Tucson, Ariz.) led Penn State at the plate with four hits on the day, recording back-to-back multi-hit games while driving in three runs for the Blue and White on a double against the Coyotes. Also recording a multi-hit game for the Nittany Lions was Toni Polk (Niagara Falls, N.Y.) who tallied two base-knocks against South Dakota while Meghan Williams (Bethlehem, Pa.) drove in two runs for the Blue and White.
Senior Marlaina Laubach (Northampton, Pa.) set a career-high in strikeouts in her 11th start of the season, fanning eight batters against South Dakota. The senior right-handed hurler tossed all seven innings, giving up just six hits and earning the 6-2 victory over the Coyotes. Laubach also earned the start against No. 8 Washington, throwing 2.2 innings, while Jessica Cummings (Owings, Md.) threw one out and Madey Smith (Washington, N.J.) pitched the final inning for Penn State
Game One: Penn State 6, South Dakota 1
Delaney Elling (Washington, Pa.) battled at the plate, fouling off six pitches en route to drawing a walk to lead off the bottom of the second inning before pinch runner Christa Wagner (Plainville, Mass.) stole second and came around to score on a Williams ground out to short stop, allowing Penn State to take the 1-0 lead in the bottom of the second inning.
The Nittany Lions extended their lead to 2-0 in the bottom of the fourth inning with three-straight hits to load the bases and a fielder's choice to score the runner from third against the Coyotes.
Back-to-back hits by Tori Dubois (Mt. Vernon, N.H.) and Polk put runners on second and third for Penn State before a two-out error by South Dakota's first baseman allowed the Nittany Lions to plate their third run of the game. Penn State capitalized on the error when it loaded the bases and Ziegler laced a bases-clearing double into center field to extend the Blue and White lead to 6-0.
The Coyotes looked to close the gap in the top of the seventh inning when Emily Winkler hit a solo homer over the left field wall and followed it up with a double to left and a single to right field with no outs. South Dakota brought in one final run in the top of the seventh inning before the Nittany Lions recorded the final outs they needed to take the 6-2 victory
Game Two: No. 8 Washington 15, Penn State 0 (5 inn.)
Washington was the first to strike in the bottom of the first inning, moving runners to second and third for Sis Bates, who ripped a two-out triple into left center field to score two runs for the Huskies. Morganne Flores followed it up with a home run off the left field foul pole to extend the UW lead to 4-0 before the Nittany Lions recorded the final out of the inning.
Washington struck for the second time in the bottom of the third inning using back-to-back hits to bring in two runs and take the 6-0 lead before head coach Amanda Lehotak made a pitching change with two outs and runners on second and third. Cummings issued a walk to her first batter before a hard-hit single back at the junior hurler brought in the third run of the inning for the Huskies.
Washington continued to tack on the runs with two outs in the bottom of the third inning as Ali Aguilar blasted a grand slam over the right field wall to extend the UW lead to 11-0 after three complete innings.
The Huskies used three-straight doubles and a home run, adding four more runs in the bottom of the fourth inning to take a 15-0 lead over the Nittany Lions.
Penn State was unable to get anything going to avoid the mercy in the top of the fifth inning, falling 15-0 to the Huskies of the University of Washington.
Up Next:
Penn State opens its 2017 home slate Wednesday, March 18 with a doubleheader against Saint Francis. The Nittany Lions and the Red Flash will see first pitch starting at 5 p.m. with first pitch of game two scheduled to start at 7:30 p.m.