Penn State Softball Swept At No. 19 Michigan
Penn State (12-17, 0-3 Big Ten) dropped all three games of its Big Ten opening series without scoring a run against No. 19 Michigan (22-7-1, 3-0 Big Ten) at Alumni Field over the weekend.
After a tight effort in the opener with an impressive first few innings from freshman pitcher Madey Smith, the Nittany Lions couldn’t keep up with the perennial-power Wolverines — getting run-ruled in both game two and game three.
How It Happened
Smith has made a quick rise in Penn State’s pitching rotation, and got the start in the circle for the first game of this tough clash. She went four full innings without giving up a run, but couldn’t get help on the offensive end as the batters struggled to get at Michigan ace Megan Betsa.
A fifth-inning home run from the Wolverines’ Courtney Richardson broke the deadlock and a single from Faith Canfield made it 2-0. Michigan tacked on a run in the sixth and Betsa came back to the circle in the seventh to close out a complete-game shutout 3-0 over Penn State.
Penn State’s bats struggled once again to put runners on base, but it didn’t hold off the Wolverines quite as long on the defensive end in the second game. Sophomore Madison Seifert got the start and couldn’t shut down Michigan as it managed to put up eight runs off seven hits through to run-rule the Nittany Lions 8-0 in five innings.
The final game of the series completed the thrashing. Tera Blanco blasted a three-run shot over the left field wall as part of five runs in the first inning for Michigan. The Wolverines went scoreless in the second before tacking on eight runs in the third. Penn State allowed four more runs in the fourth to make it the largest loss of the season for the Nittany Lions 17-0 in a run-rule after five innings.
Player Of The Series
Faith Canfield | Second Baseman | Sophomore
Michigan’s Canfield ripped the Penn State pitchers over the weekend, going 6-9 to put up six RBIs.
What’s Next
Penn State will travel to play Pitt in a single-game midweek clash against the Panthers on Wednesday at 5 p.m. You can catch the game live on ACCN Extra (WatchESPN and the WatchESPN app).
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