Jekyll and Hyde lady sluggers get Big Ten win

Two different teams took the field for the Penn State softball team this weekend.

The Lady Lions in blue who took the field yesterday to take on the Boilermakers played solid defense, had outstanding pitching and walked away with their first Big Ten win.

"It does feel good to get a Big 10 win, no doubt about it," Penn State coach Robin Petrini said. "The kids came out focused today and ready to play much better than yesterday."

Penn State (20-13, 1-5) jumped out to an early lead yesterday scoring two runs in the first inning. The Lady Lions led by the pitching of Jen Hippo kept Purdue (26-16, 2-4) off the board for five innings.

Purdue was denied time and time again by plays made by the Lady Lion defense. The best opportunity for the Boilers to get some runs came in the sixth inning. Sophomore Jenny Barnett led the inning off with a single to left. Susan Denny then came up to the plate.

The Purdue senior grounded to Penn State shortstop Bradi Conti who scooped the ball, flipped it to second baseman Marisa Marucci, who then fired the ball to first baseman Shannon Salsburg to turn the double play.

"It was a huge play," Hippo said. "That could have been a big inning for them if we hadn't pulled through with that play. It was definitely a huge play."

The double play looked even more important after Laura Bottino hit a double. The Boilermakers managed to score a run after Bottino moved to third base on a wild pitch and Kristin Billen hit a single to send Bottino home.

Jaci Kalp then entered the game and struck out the next batter. She picked up her first career save after the Lady Lions got an insurance run in the bottom of the sixth and she retired the final three batters to gain the 3-1 victory.

"Jaci is doing a great job for us," Petrini said. "I don't know if we could ask her to do any more. She's doing an outstanding job for us."

Kalp had a good outing for the Lady Lions pitching a complete game and giving up only four hits. The game was tied at two going into the fifth inning when the Penn State defense came undone.

There were two outs and the Boilermakers had runners on first and second base. Jenny Schoen then hit a ground ball to shortstop Terra Pracht. The ball rolled up Pracht's glove and arm and landed in left field where Jennifer Accordino made a wild throw to first base giving the Purdue two runs and the Lady Lions two errors.

The two runs were the difference in the 4-2 win for the Boilers. Purdue prevailed in the early game 8-4 in a game it dominated from start to finish. The closest Penn State got was when they were trailing 5-3 after Salsburg hit a three-run home run in the fifth inning.

Purdue also picked up its first wins in the Big Ten and is now hoping to improve on what they saw this weekend.

"We certainly weren't mentally sharp today and we really talked about that after the game," Purdue coach Carol Bruggeman said. "We're close to being a top 25 program. The difference is those teams are mentally sharp everyday."