Lady Lions edged out of Classic

By LAWRENCE R.V. POTTER
Collegian Sports Writer

Despite improving its overall record to 10-7, the softball team's trip to Florida did not end the way the Lady Lions would have hoped.

Instead of playing in the championship round of the Gladstone's/University of South Florida Softball Classic yesterday, the Lady Lions completed their last game on Saturday in pool play.

Heading into Saturday's games against fellow pool members Western Michigan and Sam Houston State, Penn State needed to win both to advance to the single-elimination round of the tournament. However, the Lady Lions lost a tough, defensive battle to Western Michigan, 1-0 -- but they rebounded to beat Sam Houston 4-3 Saturday evening.

"It's frustrating that we didn't beat Western Michigan," junior shortstop Val Serpico said. "Still, we played well all week. At times, we played like the best team at Penn State in the last five years. This is a good sign for us heading into the Big Ten season, knowing we played so well this week."

The loss to Western Michigan must have been the most frustrating for Penn State freshman pitcher Jen Hippo, who gave up only five hits and one run against the Broncos. She also struck out four batters and walked only one, but did not get the win.

Although Western Michigan only managed three hits off Hippo, the Broncos scored one run and left only one runner on base. Conversely, the Lady Lions didn't score while leaving six runners on base.

"We had opportunities to score, but didn't," Coach Sue Rankin said. "We had five hits and they had three, but they put two hits together and we didn't."

Later, the Lady Lions took out their frustrations in the victory over the Bearkats. Serpico led the way, smashing a two-run double to left field in the fourth inning, which increased Penn State's lead to 4-1. Shannon Salsburg, Susannah Forde and Misty Hackett also collected hits for the Lady Lions.

On Friday -- the first day of the tournament -- the Lady Lions defeated South Florida 9-8 in a nine-inning thriller but lost their next two games, 3-1 to South Carolina and 7-0 to Missouri.

Earlier in the week, Penn State played six games over four days. On Monday, the Lady Lions lost 3-1 to South Florida and 6-0 to the Canadian National Team, a loss which will not count in Penn State's offical record.

Last Tuesday, the team swept a doubleheader against Indiana State, winning 9-5 and 6-5. On Thursday, the Lady Lions swept Marshall, 9-0 and 6-2.

"We played great all week," Rankin said. "We had great defense, great leadership and we did a great job of getting RBIs at the end."