March 23, 2008

OXFORD - Despite a strong effort through the first three innings of the final game of the 2008 Best Western Sycamore Inn Invitational, Miami closed out the tournament with a 13-4 loss to Penn State. Miami finished the tournament with a 2-2 record, splitting its games during both days of the invitational.

Senior outfielder Christine Bills played strong for the RedHawks over the weekend, hitting .583 with six singles and a double to her credit. Bills is tied with Alicia Hogl for the second most hits on the team with 20.

Driving in five runs over the weekend tournament was senior outfielder, Breanna Robinson. Robinson hit .444 over the four-game invitational, and now has a team-leading 24 RBI this season.

The bats started early for Miami, as the Red and White pushed two runs across in the first inning on a Breanna Robinson double to the right-centerfield gap. With Robinson's 24 RBI this season, she needs just 14 more to pass Leslie Macedo's single-season record.

The Nittany Lions battled back in the top half of the second inning, as Shana Madura drove a ball to the wall in centerfield, driving in two runs on the play. Danielle Kinley came up two batters later and shot a ball through the middle of the infield, driving in Penn State's third run of the game.

The RedHawks regained the lead in the bottom of the third inning, on a Natalie Savona single through the left side of the infield, plating Breanna Robinson and Christine Bills. The runs batted in were Savona's third and fourth of the year.

In Penn State's half of the fourth, Jackie Hill tied the affair at four runs for each team with a bloop single to left field. Just one batter later, Sam Hovanec connected with a pitch for a two-out, three-run home run that stayed just inside the left field foul pole. The shot was Hovanec's first round-tripper of the season.

The Nittany Lions extended their lead in the fifth to 8-4, as Danielle Kinley victimized the RedHawks again with her second run-scoring single of the game.

PSU put the game out of reach in the top half of the seventh, as Penn State pushed across five runs, running the score to 13-4.

The RedHawks will now host two conference foes next weekend, with a double-header against the Akron Zips scheduled for Friday (1 and 3 p.m.), and single games against the Bobcats of Ohio University on Saturday (2 p.m.) and Sunday (1 p.m.).