Penn State softball (3-7) dropped its fifth and final game of the Fonseca Memorial Tournament 1-0 to USF on Sunday afternoon.

The Nittany Lions dropped their first two games of the tournament despite leading in both. They bounced back from the shaky start and won their next two outings, however, they couldn’t secure the last bid, leaving Tampa with a 2-3 record.

Game One

Penn State faced St John’s in the first game of its Valentine’s Day back-to-back. Natalie Lieto drew a four-pitch walk on the game’s first at-bat, stole second base, and then scored on a fielding error from the Red Storm, giving Penn State a quick 1-0 lead. St John’s wasted no time tying it up after Jess Bianco, who reached on a bundt earlier in the inning, was scored by a single from Cassidy Stouffer.

Both teams went scoreless until the fifth inning where a sacrifice bunt from Lieto scored Kaylie Walters. While Lieto was thrown out at first, an errant throw to the second base bag allowed Walters to get all the way home to give Penn State a 2-1 lead that quickly grew to 3-1 after a two-out solo home run from Brooke Klosowicz.

In a similar fashion to the first inning, St. John’s immediately knotted up the score after its next at-bat. Natalie Casto drew a lead-off walk, followed by a home run from Melanie Santos to make it 3-3.

In the seventh inning, the bats got active for the Red Fury with back-to-back singles from Casto and Madison Konopka putting pressure on the Penn State in-field. A fielder’s choice removed Konopka from the basepath but advanced Casto to third where she was sent home by a single from Anese Thompson to left field, winning the game for St John’s 4-3.

Game Two

After two scoreless innings for both squads, the Nittany Lions brought in three runs after a double from Klosowicz scored Jenna Nelson and Meagan Ricks. Then, a single right up the middle from Haylie Brunson scored Klosowicz from third before the third out of the inning came.

Macy Chamberlin cracked a lead-off single into center field, followed by Nelson and Walters reaching to load the bases for the Nittany Lions. Ricks scored Chamberlin with a deep sacrifice fly to make it a 4-0 ball game.

However, USF quickly closed the gap in the bottom of the fourth after back-to-back home run shots from Alanah Rivera and Camille Ortiz-Martinez. Rivera’s scored two as Alex Walkes reached on a single to start the inning.

A very winnable game for Penn State abruptly ended in the bottom of the fifth in what felt like a blink of an eye. USF tacked on a whopping nine runs in the bottom of the fifth. A Bull reached on a walk to start the inning and two Penn State errors followed shortly after, loading the bases for USF. Ortiz-Martinez reached on another error from Penn State, scoring one in the process. A grand slam from Jamia Nelson broke open the game for USF, pushing the score to 8-3.

The Bulls ended the inning and the game with a 12-3 lead after a total dismantling of the Penn State defense.

Game Three

With two strikes, Haylie Brunson launched the first home run of her senior season to give Penn State a 1-0 lead. Maddie Gordon reached on a walk shortly after and was then advanced by a single from Walters. Both players stole a base, allowing Michela Barbanente to bring Gordon home on a sacrifice fly to the outfield, making it 2-0 Penn State.

Loyola Chicago cut the lead in half thanks to a double to left center from Nat Lesnicki that scored Haley Wallace who reached on a walk earlier in the inning.

The bats of Penn State were cranking in the third inning. Lieto reached after being hit by a pitch, Klosowicz singled, and Chamberlin reached on a walk to load the bases for the Nittany Lions. Brunson brought two runners home with a double. Gordon then brought Chamberlin and Brunson home with a double of her own. A single from Barbanente plated Brunson and Gordon and a single from Ricks kept the reciprocal energy going, bringing home Barbanente. Lieto cracked an RBI single in her second plate appearance of the inning.

With the Lieto, Klosowicz, and Chamberlin loading the bases again, Gordon brought in two more runs to give Penn State a 12-1 lead after a remarkable bottom of the third inning.

Loyola-Chicago would bring a run in during fifth-inning garbage time, ending the contest 12-2.

Game Four

In the top of the third, Klosowicz plated Nelson to give Penn State a 1-0 lead in its rematch against St. John’s.

An inning later, Barbanente added another run, homering to left center field to double the score for the Nittany Lions.

Nelson reached second on an error from the St John’s center fielder and then scored after a bunt from Ricks gave her enough time to scoot home. Klosowicz brought one more run in with an RBI single that sent Ricks home, building onto the 4-0 lead.

Abi Britton had a strong day, pitching all seven innings and allowing just three hits. She also accumulated four strikeouts in Penn State’s successful revenge game against St John’s.

Game Five

Penn State decided to spread out its pitching for their fifth and final game of the tournament, with Britton, Maddie Volpe, and Lydia Spalding all getting facing seven batters each.

Rivera doubled for USF to start the fourth inning off, which Ortiz-Martinez followed up by reaching base on a walk. A bunt advanced both runners and then a single from Garcia-Soto scored Rivera

After Lieto reached on a single in the first, the Nittany Lions went three up, three down for three innings straight. Maddie Gordon singled in the top of the fifth for Penn State’s second hit of the day but was left stranded as the inning came to a close.

Down 1-0 with one out, Klosowicz reached on a walk, but the lack of activity from the bats of Penn State left her stranded on base after Chamberlin and Bruson flew out to end the game.

What’s Next?

The Nittany Lions head to Baton Rouge next weekend for the LSU Invitational. Their first game is against Nichols at 11:30 a.m. on Friday, February 21.