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Box Score 2 PHILADELPHIA - With a 3-1 count in the bottom of the eighth and the University of Pennsylvania softball team tied, 1-1, with Lafayette in its home opener at Penn Park, senior captain
Hannah Gibbons swung for the fences. Gibbons would go over the fence and deep to center field as she hit the first home run of her career to complete the come from behind, 2--1, victory for the Quakers. Penn would drop game two of the double-header to Lafayette, 5-3, with the late rally falling just short.
Notes
* Two of the Quakers' five runs on Wednesday came via home-run.
* Penn has allowed five runs or less in ten of its twelve games this season.
* The Red and Blue out-hit Lafayette in game two. It's the first time this season that the Quakers have lost after outhitting their opponent. They were previously, 4-0.
* Penn left 16 runners on base in the two games combined.
*
Tabitha Dyer gave up her first earned run of the season. A solo home-run in the second inning ended the sophomore lefty's streak at 22.1 innings without an earned run.
*
Emma Nedley recorded her second home run of the season.
* Gibbons' home run was the first of her career.
How it Happened
The Quakers returned to Penn Park on Wednesday after their week long trip to Florida during spring break. Lafayette got on the board first as Erin Scott led off with a solo shot to center field in the second inning. Penn looked to answer by putting runners in scoring position in the second and third innings, but were unable to bring them home.
Aside from the home-run given up in the second inning,
Tabitha Dyer picked up where she left off in Florida. The two-time Ivy League Pitcher of the Week struck out three batters in four innings while giving up just two hits, including the home-run.
With head coach
Leslie King splitting time between her pitchers,
Abigail Abramson took over in the fifth. The sophomore began her afternoon with a strikeout and retired nine of the first ten batters she faced.
In the bottom of the fifth, freshman
Emma Nedley recorded the second home-run of her career. This one was a solo-shot to tie the game against the Leopards.
Two strikeouts from Abramson in the seventh resulted in a 1-2-3 inning for Lafayette.
Sarah Cwiertnia singled in the bottom of the frame, but a fly-out to right field from Yang sent the game to extra innings.
For the third time in four innings of action, Abramson saw just three batters in a single frame. Nedley grounded out to start the eighth for the Quakers, but looking to get something going, Gibbons came up big when her team needed her most, hitting the first home run of her career to secure the victory.
In game two it was once again a Lafayette home run that got the scoring going in the second inning. This time however, it was a two-run homer from Malori Pojar to give the Leopards an early, 2-0 lead.
The Quakers looked to answer as Yang led-off with a single, but Gibbons hit into a 6-3 double-play to empty the bases. Penn put runners on first and second again in the fourth, but again, a double-play from Lafayette ended the threat, retiring the side.
Lafayette added a third run in the fifth. This time, however, the Quakers responded.
Sarah Cwiertnia sparked the Penn bats with a single and then took advantage of a Lafayette error to advance to second. Yang followed suit with a single of her own through the left side, advancing Cwiertnia to third. Gibbons brought her home with a sac-fly to right field to cut the deficit to 3-1. The Quakers then took advantage of another Leopards' error to come within one at 3-2.
Penn scored two runs in the sixth, taking advantage of two Lafayette errors, but the Leopards responded with two runs of their own in the seventh to once again go up by three.
Like in game one, the Red and Blue fought until the end. Back-to-back singles from
Jessica England and Nedley put the tying run at the plate.
Corrie Phillips and Cwiertnia each grounded out, advancing the runners and scoring England. With the score, 5-3, Yang stepped up to the plate with Nedley on second, however, the sophomore popped up to right field to end the late rally.
Up Next
The Quakers head to Yale this weekend for their first Ivy series of the season. Penn will play Yale in a double-header on Saturday before closing out the three-game series with a single game on Sunday.
