NEW HAVEN, Conn. - Tabitha Dyer has had a successful season in the circle to start the year and that continued on Saturday afternoon in the University of Pennsylvania softball team's Ivy League series opener. After an 8-0 loss to Yale to begin the day for the Red and Blue, Dyer threw her second complete game shutout of the season to lead Penn to a, 3-0, victory and earn the split.
Inside the Numbers
* Penn's shutout win over Yale is its first since beating the Bulldogs, 3-0, in 2014. It's the first shutout over Yale in New Haven since 2013.
* The Red and Blue were shutout in New Haven for the first time since 2000. The Quakers were last shutout by the Bulldogs in 2016.
* In game one, the Quakers out-hit the Bulldogs, 9-8. However, for a second-straight game, they came up short. Penn moves to 4-2 this season when recording more hits than its opponent.
* Dyer has thrown four complete games this season in the circle as she has finished all but one game that she's started in. Saturday marked her second complete game shutout of the season. The sophomore lefty allowed just two hits in a game for the third time this year. After Saturday, Dyer is a perfect 4-0 in the circle this season as her ERA sits at 0.22 and she is allowing 2.8 hits per seven innings.
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Emma Nedley recorded her third home run of the season. The freshman put the Quakers in the lead early with her second home run in three games. All three of her home runs have been solo-shots.
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Sarah Ketring and
Sam Pederson led Penn at the plate. Both players tallied four hits while Ketring brought in a RBI.
How it Happened
The Quakers opened their Ivy League season against Yale for the first time since 2014. On the road, Penn looked to get off to a fast start. Back-to-back singles in the first inning by
Sam Pederson and
Jessica England and a walk from
Lucy Yang loaded the bases. However, two outs to end the inning left the runners stranded.
In the bottom of the frame, the Bulldogs loaded the bases as well, but were able to bring runners home. After giving up a single and a walk to put two runs on the board,
Jennifer Brann was taken out for
Abigail Abramson. A sac-fly added a third run, but Abramson ended the inning with a strikeout as Penn found itself down, 3-0, early on.
Yale loaded the bases again in the second inning. A single up the middle brought in two more to score and make it, 5-0.
The Quakers looked to cut into their deficit in the top of the third, once again loading the bases with singles from Pederson,
Sarah Cwiertnia, and Yang. However, two consecutive outs ended the inning with runners left on base.
The Bulldogs added two more runs in the bottom of the frame and then walked-off in the sixth with a solo-home run to left field to make it an eight-run deficit after five innings.
Penn entered game two hoping for a split. Dyer retired six of the first seven batters she faced, with the lone runner coming on a walk in the first inning. With both teams tied, 0-0, heading into the third, Nedley broke the scoreless streak with her third home run of the season - a solo shot - to put the Quakers up, 1-0.
Like she has all season, Dyer took the lead she was given and protected it. The lefty forced back-to-back ground-outs in the bottom of the frame to end an immediate answer and then it was
Jessica England in the fourth who fielded two consecutive ground-balls and put two outs on the board.
While not hitting a home run, Nedley sparked another scoring run in the fifth. The freshman hit an infield single and then stole second to put herself in scoring position. With two outs,
Sarah Ketring singled up the middle, scoring Nedley and extending the Quaker lead to 2-0.
In the sixth,
Sam Pederson led-off with a single and then it was Cwiertnia with a single to right field that brought her home, adding a third run.
Coming in to finish her fourth complete game of the season, Dyer went 1-2-3 in the bottom of the seventh to give the Quakers the shutout win.
