After sweeping its opponents at the ACC-Big Ten Challenge, Penn State (6-7) couldn’t follow up its success with another dominant weekend. The Nittany Lions fell in three of their four games, with the lone win coming in a mercy-rule rout against Cleveland State for junior pitcher Jessica Cummings’ first win of the season on Sunday morning.

How It Happened

Madison Seifert took to the pitching circle for the opener on Saturday against Coastal Carolina and went five innings, giving up three runs off six hits. Tori Dubois knocked in Penn State’s only run in the fourth inning, but the Nittany Lions’ offense couldn’t keep pace with the Chanticleers in a 3-1 loss.

In Saturday’s second matchup against Campbell, the Nittany Lions battled back twice in an extra innings effort. Marlaina Laubach got the start in the circle and lasted into the fifth, but was replaced after giving up three runs in the top of that inning.

Down 4-2 in the seventh, Penn State tied it when Shelby Miller launched a home run over the wall with two outs. Mollie Sorenson saved the Nittany Lions at the death again with a single in the bottom of the ninth to tie it 5-5. In the top of the 10th, four unearned runs off two errors helped the Camels to a 9-5 win.

Cummings got her first start of the year on Sunday against Cleveland State and posted a shutout through her five innings of work. An explosive six-run fourth inning opened the lead up to 9-0 for the Nittany Lions, which was enough to earn the mercy rule by the next inning.

The Penn State bats went silent again in the final game of the tournament against Morehead State. Seifert put in a complete game of work, giving up just one run on a Cheyenne Meyer home run in the fourth. It just wasn’t Penn State’s game offensively, putting up just four hits and failing to score in the 1-0 loss.

Player Of The Series

Mollie Sorenson | Second Base | Junior

Referred to by coach Amanda Lehotak as the team’s “unsung hero,” Sorenson lived up to the title with a hit in each of the weekend’s four games — including the game-tying RBI in extra innings of game two and a big 3-3 performance in the win over Cleveland State.

What’s Next

Penn State heads out to Colorado next weekend for a tournament with Colorado State, Idaho State, and Buffalo.