Central Michigan comes from behind to beat Penn State 7-4
Softball began its second series of tournament action at Clearwater, Fla. on Tuesday with a thrilling 7-4 against Penn State.
The Chippewas were down by one moving into the final inning where they burst ahead with four runs, two of which batted in off a double by sophomore CarolAnn Sexauer. The Nittany Lions were unable to respond, going down in order in the bottom of the seventh.
Senior Kara Dornbos pitched 4.2 innings, the first time over this spring break schedule that she hasn’t finished a full game. Dornbos gave up five hits and three earned runs as well as giving up six walks.
Junior Chelsea Sundberg completed the final 2.1 innings to earn her second win on the season. She was perfect, giving up no hits to close the game.
The offense started by picking up a quick run in the second from a single by freshman first baseman Katelyn Rentschler, knocking in junior Cory DeLamielleure who walked and got into scoring position by her sister, sophomore Chelsea DeLamielleure. In the bottom of the inning PSU countered to lock the game 1-1.
CMU reclaimed the lead in the top of the fourth with a pair of runs. Rentschler recorded her seventh RBI on the season with a sacrifice fly that allowed junior Lauren Bowman, pinch running for Sexauer, to score. Freshman Trista Cox batted in freshman Taylor Waters with a single, giving it a 3-1 lead.
In the bottom of the fifth the Nittany Lions answered, with a three-run home run to left-center by Karlie Habitz to make it 4-3.
The Chippewas were shut down in back-to-back innings until the seventh where a walk and a pair of errors allowed them to reclaim their offensive stride.
A double from Sexauer and a sacrifice fly from Chelsea DeLamielleur scored three runs to push the team ahead.
Both Sexauer and Rentschler had two RBI on the night.
Central Michigan will face off against tournament host South Florida on Wednesday in a double-header starting at 6:00pm.
