LEESBURG, Fla. – The Penn State softball team split results on day two of the Northern Lights Southern Nights Tournament, shutting out Eastern Kentucky, 4-0, in the first game before falling to UConn, 2-1, in another one-run battle.
Game 1: Penn State 4, Eastern Kentucky 0
Penn State picked up its first win of the new campaign with a 4-0 shutout of Eastern Kentucky in the afternoon Florida sun.
The Nittany Lions started the scoring off early with a sacrifice fly by sophomore Liana Jones to score junior Lexie Black after her one-out triple made it 1-0 after two innings.
EKU threatened in the bottom of the third with back-to-back two-out singles, but senior pitcher Kylee Lingenfelter stayed calm in the circle to sit down the next batter to keep Penn State ahead.
The same thing happened in the fourth inning for the Colonels, this time getting two runners in scoring position with two outs before a groundout to sophomore Lauren Marcotte at shortstop ended the frame.
Penn State took that good defense and turned it into good offense in the top of the fifth, scoring three runs on two hits and two errors to make it 4-0. It started with a single through the left side by senior Lilia Crouthamel who then stole second and advance to third on a wild pitch.
Sophomore Mel Coombs then drew a walk to put runners on the corners before senior Ally Kurland reached on an error to score Crouthamel and another error moved both Coombs and Kurland another base. Junior transfer Cassie Lindmark then recorded her first hit and RBI in a Penn State uniform to score the additional two runs for the Nittany Lions.
In the bottom of the sixth, EKU got its first two batters on base with a hit and an error, but a double play turned by the combination of Marcotte, Coombs and Black kept the Colonels off the board.
Penn State closed out the game with solid defense in the seventh for its first shutout of the season as Lingenfelter would pick up the win in the circle going all seven innings with five strikeouts.
Game 2: UConn 2, Penn State 1
Game two of the day for Penn State was similar to the Nittany Lions' first game of the season against Mizzou, featuring a narrow one-run, 2-1, defeat to the UConn Huskies.
The Nittany Lions started off strong with singles from senior Claire Swedberg and Lindmark in the top of the first, but both would be stranded to end the game's opening frame. The Huskies also got two on in the first but same thing both would be stranded to keep it 0-0 after one.
UConn then took the early 1-0 lead in the bottom of the second on a solo home run.
Both teams traded hits and getting runners on in the next three innings before Penn State was able to tie it up in the top of the sixth.
Junior Michelle Leone drew a lead-off walk to get on base and freshman Lydia Coleman came in to run for her. Coleman advanced to second on a groundout and then scored on the next play when Crouthamel hit a triple to right center. Black then drew a two-out walk to keep runners on the corners, but the frame ended with Crouthamel getting trapped in a run-down situation after attempting a delayed steal from third.
UConn was able to walk it off in the bottom of the seventh with two walks and the winning double for the 2-1 victory.
Senior pitcher Bailey Parshall pitched all seven innings and finished with seven strikeouts in the tough loss.
ON DECK
Penn State concludes opening weekend at the Northern Lights Southern Nights Tournament with two more contests on Sunday. The Nittany Lions will first face in-state foe Pitt at 11:30 a.m. before playing Akron at 2 p.m.
GAME NOTES
- Senior pitcher Kylee Lingenfelter registered the shutout and win in the circle. It marked her first career solo shutout after combining for three shutouts with classmate Bailey Parshall as a freshman in 2019.
- Penn State recorded its first shutout since shutting out Maryland, 1-0, last season (4/24/21).
- Junior transfer Cassie Lindmark recorded her first hit and first two RBI as a Nittany Lion against EKU.
- Sophomore Liana Jones collected her first career RBI with a sacrifice fly against EKU.
- Seniors Lilia Crouthamel and Claire Swedberg each recorded multi-hit games Saturday against EKU and UConn, respectively.
- Crouthamel's RBI-triple against UConn marked her first career triple.