BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – The Penn State softball team (5-28, 5-28 Big Ten) battled with the Indiana Hoosiers (21-17, 21-17 Big Ten) Friday afternoon in doubleheader action, but ultimately dropped both games.
Game 1: Indiana 2, Penn State 1 (8 innings)
Game one was a defensive battle through most of the game as a single run was scored by Indiana in the first and then Penn State in the seventh to force extra innings. The Hoosiers eventually walked off the game in the bottom of the eighth with a home run by their lead-off hitter for the win.
Sophomore pitcher Kylee Lingenfelter was truly phenomenal in the game, only giving up four hits and striking out four. After giving up the initial run in the first inning, Lingenfelter and the defense retired the next 16 of 20 batters to get the game into extras.
The Penn State offense had three hits and got seven baserunners on before finally getting on the board in the top of the seventh with two outs.
Indiana took an early 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first after drawing a walk, a steal and then a RBI double.
Penn State threatened in the top of the third after sophomore Kaitlyn Morrison got on via error as the lead-off batter and then advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt by senior Dani Fey. Freshman Mel Coombs then hit a two-out infield single to put runners on the corners before Indiana got the third out.
In the top of the fourth, the Nittany Lions again had runners in scoring position as redshirt senior Kennedy Legg and junior Lilia Crouthamel recorded back-to-back two-out singles before being stranded to keep the visitors off the scoreboard.
The Nittany Lions got single baserunners on in both the fifth and sixth innings as they kept battling to find the tying run.
That tying run finally came in the top of the seventh with two outs as freshman Mel Coombs was so calm at the plate. She hit a RBI triple to score junior Shelli Rivard who came in to pinch run for sophomore Lexie Black who had drawn a walk as the game would go to extras.
Penn State was taken down in order in the top of the eighth and then Indiana hit a lead-off home run to take the victory in game one.
Game 2: Indiana 8, Penn State 7
Penn State carried some of that confidence in coming back into game two, starting off with a home run by redshirt senior Kennedy Legg in the top of the first to give the Nittany Lions their first lead of the day.
Indiana tied the game in the bottom of the fourth with two hits and a sacrifice fly to make it 1-1 after four innings of play.
Penn State was able to counter right back in the top of the fifth after Coombs drew a lead-off walk to get on base and then stole second. Junior Melina Livingston then doubled to right center to score Coombs before classmate Chelsea Bisi came to the plate and blasted a two-run home run, her first of the season, to give Penn State the 4-1 advantage.
Adding two runs to the score in the sixth made it 6-1 Penn State. Junior Claire Swedberg pinch hit and got on base via error and then advanced all the way to third on a sacrifice bunt by senior Dani Fey.
Coombs then had another RBI hit on the day with a single to score Swedberg. Coombs then stole second and advanced to third on a passed ball and then scored on a RBI single up the middle by Legg.
The Hoosiers got back in the game in the bottom half of the frame scoring three runs on five hits to cut Penn State's lead back to two runs, 6-4.
Junior Ally Kurland homered in the top of the seventh to make it 7-4 before Indiana ran away with the game in the final inning scoring four runs on four hits to walk off with a 8-7 win in game two.
ON DECK
The series will conclude Saturday as games three and four will now be played as a doubleheader starting at 1 p.m.
GAME NOTES
- Redshirt senior Kennedy Legg and juniors Chelsea Bisi and Ally Kurland all had multi-hit games in game two, including one home run each.
- Bisi registered her second multi-RBI game of the season in game two with the two-run home run. It also marked her first home run since her freshman season in 2019 (at Michigan; 4/26/19).
- Game two marked the first time Penn State hit three home runs in a game as a team this season.