TAMPA, Fla. – The University of Pennsylvania softball jumped out to early multi-run leads in both ends of a doubleheader at the University of South Florida on Tuesday afternoon. Late rallies for the Bulls allowed them to inch their way back in both games and eventually earning extra inning walk off wins.
Sammy Fenton went a combined 7-for-9 on the day as she led the Penn offense.
Madison Bauerle and
Sarah Schneider both collected four total hits on the day including three each in game two.
Brianna Brown got back to her hitting ways as she went 4-for-6 on the day.
FINAL/8: USF 6, Penn 5
In the opening game of the doubleheader at USF, Penn jumped all over the USF starting pitcher with two runs on three hits and capitalizing on a pair of errors. Schneider scored on a throwing error and then
Dana Anderson's RBI base hit put the Quakers up 2-0.
Fenton's second of three hits in game one gave the Quakers a 3-0 lead after two innings. The Quaker shortstop recorded her third hit of the game in the top of the fourth inning as she sent a rocket over the left field wall that scored
Brianna Brown on the play. This was Fenton's second homer in as many games.
Rachel Riley made the start in the circle for the Quakers and shutout the Bulls through four innings. After a two-out triple in the bottom of the first, Riley seven straight Bulls before working around back-to-back base hits to open the bottom of the fourth. The sophomore got a lineout and a bases loaded inning-ending double play to get out of the inning unscathed.
Just as the Quaker bats started to cool off the Bulls bats heated up. USF opened the bottom of the fifth with three straight runners on a bunt single and back-to-back walks. After a pop up to short for the first out, the Bulls rallied off back-to-back base hits and a sac fly to cut the Quaker lead to one run.
Kelly Zybura entered the game in the bottom of the sixth and got a 1-2-3 inning to keep the Quaker lead at one. USF capitalized on a lead off ground-rule double and base hit down the right field line tied the game at 5-5. Zybura limited the damage to just one run to send the game to extra innings.
After a 1-2-3 top of the eight for Penn, the Bulls led off the bottom of the eighth with a double to right and then walked off the game with a one-out base hit to left.
FINAL/8: USF 7, Penn 6
Just as the first game started, Penn jumped out to a 2-0 lead as Fenton and
Delaney Smith both collected RBI hits.
Zybura made the start in game two and the Bulls got one run back on a one-out groundout to second to cut Penn's lead to 2-1. The home team took a 4-2 lead in the bottom of the second on back-to-back batters reaching on a fielder's choice and an RBI double to right.
The game was quickly tied again as Bauerle walked to open the inning and then Fenton's second hit of game two pulled Penn within one.
The bottom of the third was not a clean inning but ultimately ended with a zero on the board as Zybura got out of trouble to keep it a one-run game.
With three runs over the next three innings the Quakers took a 6-4 lead as Bauerle hit an RBI infield hit and
Dani Freer had a productive out that scored Bauerle from third. The final Quaker run came in the top of the fifth as Bauerle once again came through for the Quakers with an RBI base hit to center that scored pinch runner
Jade Montgomery but the inning ended as
Sarah Schneider was thrown out trying to score.
USF tied the game in the bottom of the sixth with a two-out bases loaded single to right that scored two runs.
After a quiet seventh inning for both teams and a lead off base hit by Schneider was stranded, USF called game in the bottom of the eighth. Following a lead off bunt, the five-hole hitter laced a triple to the left field wall that scored the runner from first as the Penn relay was unable to make it home.
QUAKER NOTEMEAL
- Fenton went 7-for-9 in the doubleheader as she was 3-for-4 in game one and 4-for-5 in game two. Fenton's four-hit game was the first since Laurel McKelvey went 4-for-5 in Penn's 12-inning walk off victory against Cornell on April 2, 2022.
- Fenton hit her second home run in as many games as she gave Penn a 5-0 lead in game one. With her home run she brough Penn's season total to six and is now the first Quaker with multiple home runs on the season.
- 14 hits for the Quakers in game two sets a new season mark for most hits in a game. On the day, the Quakers totaled 23 hits with Fenton leading the way with seven.
- On the day, Zybura pitched 9.1 innings allowing six earned runs on a total of 18 hits while striking out four and walking two.
UP NEXT
The Red and Blue will close out the Tampa Bay portion of its spring break trip with a neutral site doubleheader against Creighton University in Madeira Beach on Wednesday. Game one is set for a 9:30 a.m. first pitch.
#FightOnPenn
