Penn State softball (17-6) topped Lehigh (7-12) 4-3 on Friday afternoon. Although he Nittany Lions trailed for most of the game, they rallied late and notched a walk-off victory.

Kaitlyn Morrison and Gaby Garcia each recorded two hits for the Nittany Lions in the winning effort.

How It Happened

Penn State’s pitcher, Bridget Nemeth, retired the first three Lehigh batters she faced to start the first inning. Kaitlyn Morrison saw four balls in a row to open Penn State’s first inning at-bat, earning a walk to first. Morrison then stole second and third bases thanks to an errant throw from Lehigh’s catcher that rolled into the outfield. Maddie Gordon also went to first on a walk, but the inning ended on a stealing violation as she tried to take second.

Lehigh’s Julia Mrochko slipped a two-out single through the Penn State infield, but she was left stranded as Sydney Parlett grounded out to the pitcher on the next at-bat, ending the inning.

Gaby Garcia started Penn State off in the second inning with a double to deep center field. Jiselle Hernandez then grounded out to the pitcher but advanced Garcia to third. Gianna Poletti flew out to right field, leaving Garcia stranded on third base as the inning closed.

The Penn State defense forced another three up, three down to start the third inning, including a play from Nemeth who knocked a line drive down and got the throw to first on time.

Michela Barbanente knocked a lead-off single through for Penn State, which was followed by a double to center field from Morrison who scored Barbanente to give the Nittany Lions a 1-0 lead. Gordon struck out to end the inning.

KMo gets the scoring going with an opposite-field RBI double!

E3 | PSU 1, LEH 0#WeAre pic.twitter.com/ufsi9ZJ7vU

— Penn State Softball (@PennStateSB) March 15, 2024

The Penn State defense forced its first out of the fourth inning thanks to a beautiful snag from Hernandez at shortstop to prevent a base hit. However, Lehigh answered with a series of big plays as Brooke Cannon reached base first on a bunt that advanced Josie Charles. Rory Dudley then singled to right field, scoring Charles and advancing Cannon to second. Another baserunner reached for Lehigh, loading the bases for the Mountain Hawks. A single up the middle from Parlett scored Dudley and Cannon, giving Lehigh a 3-1 lead. An explosive inning for Lehigh came to an end as Peyton Sward flew out to shallow center field.

Garcia and Jones flew out to center field on back-to-back pitches to start the fourth inning for the Nittany Lions. Hernandez then lined out to short to end the fourth inning.

Gracie Smith singled to short to start the fifth inning for Lehigh, but the Penn State defense retired the next three batters to leave Smith stranded at first. Gianna Poletti knocked through a lead-off single to center field and was then advanced to second by Morrison who was called out at first. Emily Maddock slipped a single through the right side of the infield, pushing Poletti to third, however, Brunson grounded out to second base to end the fifth inning.

After a quiet top of the sixth inning for Lehigh, Penn State closed the gap thanks to a triple from Liana Jones that was smoked to deep left field which scored Garcia who drew a leadoff walk at the beginning of the inning. The score from Garcia made it a 3-2 ballgame.

Holly Lovett drew a walk for Lehigh to start the seventh inning but couldn’t advance as the next three batters flied out.

As crunch time began, Morrison uncorked a triple to deep left field and was then scored by Haylie Brunson who doubled to center field, tying the game up at 3-3. Lydia Spalding pinch ran for Brunson and advanced to third on a wild pitch. Garcia snuck the walk-off single past the first baseman, sending Spalding to home for the game-winning run.

What’s Next?

The Nittany Lions will take on Lehigh for the third and final time starting at 4 p.m. on Saturday, March 16, at the Nittany Lion Softball Park. The game can be streamed on BTN+.