CLERMONT, Fla. – The Adrian College softball team took care of business against Penn State-New Kensington on Tuesday, March 5, winning 8-0 in five innings to improve to 3-3 on the year.

THE BASICS

Final Scoreline: Adrian 8-7-0 | Penn State-New Kensington 0-2-2

Location: Clermont, Fla. (Legends Way Ballfields, Field One)

Records: AC 3-3, PSNK 0-2

HOW IT HAPPENED

Neither team got on the board in the first two innings, but Penn State-New Kensington threatened in the first. The Nittany Lions had the bases loaded with one out but freshman pitcher Ally Harry was able to pitch out of the situation, including a strikeout to end the inning.

Adrian finally broke the scoreless tie in the third when sophomore right fielder Jamie Bell came around to score. Bell drew a two-out walk and then stole second. Senior catcher Natalia Younan then drove her home with a single to left field, and advanced to second on the throw. She stole third but the inning ended before she could come home.

The Bulldogs broke the game wide open in the fourth, scoring six of their eight runs in the inning. Senior first baseman Paige Cubberly and freshman centerfielder Katie Connolly reached on errors to start the inning, and then advanced when freshman Lauren McCulligh drew a walk. Junior third baseman Infinity Rogers then singled to bring in Cubberly and sophomore Jalyn DeForest, who had been brought in to pinch run for Connolly.

Sophomore Alaina Macksoud came in to run for McCulligh and scored when junior left fielder Ashley Lenington singled to center. Lenington advanced to second and Rogers to third from the throw, and both of them scored when Bell doubled to center for the game's only extra-base hit. Bell later came around to score herself when senior shortstop Krista Lynch singled. That would be the last run of the inning, and the Bulldogs took a 7-0 lead into the fifth inning, needing to hold PSNK scoreless and pick up one more run in the bottom of the inning to end the game early.

That's exactly what happened in the fifth as Harry faced only three batters, striking out one, to give AC the chance to win the game in the fifth. The Black and Gold capitalized on the opportunity, as Macksoud drew a one-out walk and then stole second. She advanced to third on a single from Rogers and then stole home to give Adrian the eighth run it needed.

TOP DAWGS

• Bell and Rogers each had two RBIs in the game.

• Rogers and Younan led the team with two hits each.

• Harry pitched five shutout innings in her debut, only surrendering two hits and a walk, while striking out five.

THE OPPOSITION

• Erika Finn and Lauren Torgent had Penn State's hits.

• Abigail Michelucci took the loss, giving up seven runs (five earned) on six hits in four innings. She struckout four and walked two.

UP NEXT

Adrian has an off day on Wednesday before returning to action with another double header on Thursday, March 7. The Bulldogs play Monmouth (Ill.) at 11:15 a.m. and Eastern Nazarene at 1:30 p.m.

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