Softball swept away by Penn State – Game two ends after five innings with mercy rule

Five days after mercy-ruling St. Francis (Pa.), Pitt ended up on the other end of an early… Five days after mercy-ruling St. Francis (Pa.), Pitt ended up on the other end of an early ending, this time a 10-1 loss to Penn State in the second game of the day.

Two Panther errors in the top of the first opened the door for a four-run Nittany Lion start to the game, a lead that was never threatened.

“They [were] coming right at us, and we’re not as sharp as we can be and we have been, and that’s just hurting us right now,” head coach Michelle Phalen said.

Pitt was held to a single hit for the game, coming off the bat of Christa Hunter in the first inning. Hunter also took the loss on the mound for Pitt, giving up 10 runs in only 2.1 innings of work.

Jen Acunto belted a single up the middle to lead off the game for Penn State, the first of her three hits of the game. She stole second, bringing Leigh Murray to the plate. A short hop that appeared to be an easy out went by the wayside when the ball rolled under the gloves of both Hunter and second baseman Francesca DiMaria, allowing Murray to reach first.

Destinie Chavez continued her strong play on the day two batters later with a double that squeaked through the gap between second and third base, giving Penn State a 4-0 lead.

That double proved to be all that Penn State hurler Jenn Reynolds would need in the afternoon. She struck out three batters and retired the last 13 of the game. After the lead swelled to 10-1, Meghan Bostick came in and pitched the final 2.2 innings, giving up neither a hit nor a run in relief of Hunter.

“She has been getting some innings, and she comes in and she competes, and that is what we need,” Phalen said of Bostick. “We just need to swing the bat. We had opportunities, but we don’t make anything out of them.”

With Penn State ahead by more than eight runs after five innings, the NCAA’s mercy rule ended the game and left Pitt looking toward its next set of games this weekend.

“I told the girls that we can get better, we can go up from here, and that’s what we have to believe,” Phalen said. “We have to believe that every time we go out there we can win. We have to play like it. Today we were flat, and we let them take the game to us, and we can’t play like that.”

FOR GAME ONE, READ: PANTHERS MANAGE ONLY TWO RUNS AGAINST PSU