Penn State 1 No. 3 seed

vs.

Iowa 0 No. 5 seed

Score by Innings		1	2	3		4	5	6		7		R	H	E
Penn State (35-21)		0	1	0		0	0	0		0		1	4	0
Iowa (41-26-1)		0	0	0		0	0	0		0		0	3	0

Boxscore and Play-By-Play | Photos from bigtenchampionships.com

Site: Ann Arbor, Mich. (Alumni Field)
Event: Big Ten Conference Softball Tournament (Game 4)
Result: Penn State 1, Iowa 0
Records: Penn State (35-21); Iowa (41-26-1)
Next PSU Game: Saturday, May 15 -- vs. Michigan (3 p.m.)
Next Iowa Game: Iowa eliminated from tournament

Early Run Holds for Nittany Lions in 1-0 Win vs. Iowa

ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- A lone run in the top of the second inning was all the Penn State Nittany Lions needed to post a 1-0 win vs. the University of Iowa in the losers' bracket semifinal of the Big Ten Softball Tournament Saturday afternoon (May 15) at Alumni Field.

The No. 3-seeded Nittany Lions (35-21) advance to play top seed University of Michigan in the losers' bracket final at 3 p.m. The winner moves to the 5:30 p.m. championship game vs. the University of Minnesota. Iowa (41-26-1) is eliminated from the tournament with its second tourney loss.

Penn State opened the second inning with Colleen Kersey reaching on a walk. A sacrifice bunt by Allison Medellin moved pinch runner Gina Bianchini to second base, and third baseman Jennifer Tripken singled to rightfield to scored Bianchini for what would hold as the game-winning run.

Iowa came back in its half of the second, moving Megan Atkins into scoring position at second base on a Katy Jendrzejewski single down the leftfield line. Nittany Lion pitcher Tanis Ambelang got out of the jam, forcing a groundout and sending Lisa Rasche to the bench on strikes to end the inning.

Ambelang kept the Hawkeyes off the bases the remainder of the game, retiring the next 15 batters on four strikeouts, eight groundouts and three fly balls. Ambelang finished with six strikeouts while allowing just three hits. She improves to 17-10 for the season.

Iowa pitcher Kristi Hanks (19-12) tossed a four-hitter, recording five strikeouts and three walks. Tripken (2-for-3) and Jodie Ricciardi (2-for-4) powered two hits each against Iowa with Tripken earning the only extra-base hit of the game, a double in the top of the seventh.

N O T E S

• Today's win is the first Big Ten Tournament victory for Penn State, which is making its first tourney appearance.

• Penn State was 4-0 vs. Iowa this season. Prior to this year, the Nittany Lions were 2-23 against the Hawkeyes.

• With today's victory, Penn State set a new single season record for wins (35) breaking the previous mark of 34 in 1985.

• Penn State pitcher Tanis Ambelang retired the last 17 batters of the game.

• Penn State denied Iowa head coach Gayle Blevins her 800th career victory and kept her two victories shy of her 500th directing the Hawkeyes.

Last updated: Saturday, 15-May-1999 16:54:05 EDT