Ashley Malek homer vs Abington
Mackenzie Huber
0
Penn State Abington PSAW 8-19
8
Winner Penn State Berks PSBW 20-7-1
Penn State Abington PSAW
8-19
0
Final
8
Penn State Berks PSBW
20-7-1
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 R H E
Penn State Abington PSAW 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 4
Penn State Berks PSBW 3 0 0 1 4 8 9 0

W: Rozick, Jess (12-5) L: Dougherty,Becca (8-16)

Game Recap: Softball |

Malek leads Berks to opening round win over Abington

READING, PA - Ashley Malek always seems to raise her level of play come the postseason and this spring was no different as the senior drove in five runs to lead the Penn State Berks softball team to an 8-0 victory over Penn State Abington in the first round of the North Eastern Athletic Conference (NEAC) Tournament on Thursday afternoon.

Berks has won its 18th straight contest to improve to 20-7-1 on the season, while Abington has its season draw to a close at 8-21 overall.

Malek got the No. 1 seed Nittany Lions offense going with a three-run home run in the bottom of the first inning to ease some pressure and give Berks some early breathing room. Prior to the homer, Berks got a two-out rally started after Brianna Smith was hit by a pitch and Cori Dickinson singled down the left field line. Malek then stepped to the plate and delivered a shot well over the fence to left field for her first homer of the season.

Jess Rozick, who had a 1-2-3 top of the first, carried the momentum from the offense into the second inning, where she struck out the side with the only hiccup being a one-out walk. In the third inning, the junior right hander issued a leadoff walk, followed by a strikeout and then a hit batter. After getting the runner at first on a sacrifice bunt for out two, Rozick left the runners stranded on second and third with another strikeout.

Abington broke up Rozick's no-hit bid with a shallow fly to left center by Becca Dougherty. Berks quickly erased the runner from the basepath's with a line out to Carley Smith at short, who fired to first to double up the runner.

In the bottom of fifth, Becca Faust led off with a single to center field and moved up to second on a sacrifice by C Smith. Rozick plated Faust with a single to right field to make it a 4-0 lead for Berks.

Val Miller moved from designated player to pitcher in the top of the fifth, where she sat down the Abington batters in order.

In the bottom of the fifth, B Smith had a one-out single and advanced to second when the ball kicked off the left fielders glove. Dickinson moved her up with a single and advanced to second with a stolen base to put runners on second and third for Malek. The senior catcher roped a line drive down the left field line that landed just inside the foul line and rolled out of play to bring in B Smith and Dickinson. Malek later scored on a wild pitch, which allowed Faust, who had reached earlier on an error, to get to third base. Rozick then ended the game with the mercy rule after her grounder was too much to handle, scoring Faust from third to make it 8-0.

The 3-6 batters in the order all had two hits and combined to go 8-for-11 with eight runs scored. Malek was 2-for-3 with a double, homer, five RBI, and two runs scored.

Rozick improved to 12-5 on the year after four shutout innings with one-hit and six strikeouts. Miller had two pop outs and one groundout in her inning of relief.

In the other first round games, Keuka College defeated Cazenovia College (8-0) and Wilson College topped the College of Saint Elizabeth (6-0). Penn College staged a late comeback in a 7-3 victory for an upset of SUNY Polytechnic. The remaining four teams will take part in a two-day, double elimination tournament hosted by Berks on Friday and Saturday. Berk will face Penn College on Friday, May 4 at 10 a..m. Keuka and Wilson will follow at 12 p.m.
 
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