Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell University
Penn State
Softball Comes up Just Short in First Game, Swept by Penn State
4/1/2015 9:13:00 PM | Softball
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – Bucknell came up just short of posting its first win over Penn State in eight years in the first game of a softball doubleheader on Wednesday night at Beard Field, falling 9-8 after a Nittany Lion rally in the bottom of the seventh inning. The second game didn't go as well for the Bison, as they suffered a 13-1 defeat.
Penn State upped its record to 19-16 on the year, while Bucknell fell to 19-14. The Bison continue their five-game road stretch with three games at Lehigh this weekend. Two games are scheduled for Saturday, and the series will conclude with one game on Sunday.
Game 1 – Penn State 9, Bucknell 8
Penn State scored five runs in the bottom of the seventh inning, including a game-tying grand slam by Alyssa VanDerveer, to give the Nittany Lions their fifth straight win in the series. Three batters later, Kristina Brackpool singled in the game-winning run.
Erin Cox hit a pair of home runs and Kristen Zahn had one blast to lead Bucknell to an 8-4 lead after six-and-a-half innings. Cox has a team-leading six homers on the season, while Zahn is right behind her with five.
Bucknell jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first inning. Jacee Almond led off the game with a walk and would later score on a wild pitch with Zahn at the plate. As it turned out, she would have scored anyway as Zahn drove one over the left-center field wall for a solo home run.
The Bison added two more runs in the second inning to take an early 4-0 lead. Cox roped a double to lead off the inning. She advanced to third on a sacrifice bunt by Christina Martinez and scored on a single by Mariah Midyette. Almond put Midyette in scoring position with a single, and Fazio made it count with an RBI single to right field.
Penn State responded with two runs in the bottom of the second inning to cut the lead in half, but Bucknell scored for the third straight inning to take a 5-2 lead. Cydnee Sanders led off with a single and later scored on an RBI groundout by Meghan Kovac.
Leading 5-3 going into the fifth inning, the Bison widened the gap with another opposite field blast. This time it was Cox, who sent a pitch over the right-field wall for a two-run shot. Her fifth homer of the season upped the lead to 7-3.
Cox wasn't finished. She hit her second home run of the game in the top of the seventh inning, a towering shot off the top of the Beard Field scoreboard in left field. The insurance run upped Bucknell's lead to 8-4.
Cox went 3-for-4 at the plate with 10 total bases. Amanda Fazio was a perfect 3-for-3, while Zahn and Midyette added two hits apiece.
Game 2- Penn State 13, Bucknell 1
Penn State put the second game away early, scoring five runs in each of the first two innings to take a 1-0 lead. The Nittany Lions finished with 12 hits, including a second-inning grand slam by Brackpool. She had five RBIs in the game.
Bucknell received a double from Cox and a single by Carolyn Wan. The Bison avoided being shut out for the first time this season when Cox scored on an RBI groundout by Jacklyn Tyburk in the team's last time up to the plate.
