It took a few games to get going, but the Penn State softball team left Tampa, Fla., with a successful showing in the Speedline Invitational.

The Nittany Lions (13-7) made it into the championship bracket and quarterfinals of the invitational.

"I think we did a really good job," third baseman Jennifer Tripken said. "We can take momentum from it going into the Big Ten season."

The Nittany Lions came into the invitational on a seven-game win streak. Thursday, that streak ended as the team lost two games on the first day of the tournament.

One of those losses was a tight game against the No. 5 team in the country, Stanford. The Cardinal beat the Lions 2-0, with both runs coming in the first inning. The team also lost a close game to host South Florida on the first day of competition.

With their win streak snapped the Lions wasted no time starting a new one. Friday and Saturday brought Penn State three victories in a row, good enough to put them in the invitational's championship bracket. The three teams the Lions defeated to get into the playoffs were Georgia Tech, Boston University and Tennessee Tech.

The Georgia Tech game was an extra-inning game in which the Lions lost both a five-run and a three-run lead before finally putting the Yellow Jackets away in the eighth inning.

The Lions came to the plate in the bottom of the eighth trailing for the first time in the game with the score 8-7. The international tie-breaker rule placed shortstop Adrienne Manzo on second base to start the inning and she scored the tying run.

Outfielder Karen Gulini reached safely on an error and immediately followed that up by stealing second and third base before scoring the wining run on a Tripken single. Tripken said that the win was key for the team to get back on track.

"It was real important for us." Tripken said. "We really needed it to get us going again."

For their three wins, the Lions were rewarded with a first-round playoff game against Central Michigan on Saturday. They advanced to the quarterfinals by defeating the Chippewas 3-1.

The breaks were then applied to the Lions' four-game win streak when Texas Tech's Amanda Renfro threw a perfect game against Penn State, eliminating them from the playoffs.

The game was played at night, which could have contributed to Renfro's success.

"She pitched well," coach Robin Petrini said. "Night enhances a pitcher's effectiveness, so I would have liked to see her during the day, but she pitched very well."

Although the Lions had to leave after the perfect game, Petrini said that they are happy with their performance.

"It was very positive," Petrini said. "We started our season 2-4 and have only lost three since then. We had a great outing."