Lilia Crouthamel’s First Career Grand Slam Leads Penn State to Victory Over Bucknell

Story posted March 30, 2022 in CommRadio, Sports by Evan Smith

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa.- With temperatures holding below 40 degrees throughout the game, Penn State came alive in the second half of the contest.

The Nittany Lions captured a 5-1 victory over Bucknell, after scoring all their runs in the bottom of the fourth inning.

Getting the start in the circle for the blue and white was senior Kylee Lingenfelter. Lingenfelter allowed two baserunners into scoring position in the first inning, but she found her groove, holding Bucknell scoreless through the third inning.

For the Bison, Kaiya Burton matched Lingenfelter’s performance. The two were locked in a pitcher’s duel through three innings.

However, both pitchers’ luck faded in the fourth inning.

In the top of the fourth, Lingenfelter retired the Bison leadoff batter but took a ball to her shin during the following at-bat. She left the game and was replaced by Vanessa Oatley. Oatley finished off the inning unscathed to keep the game scoreless.

Nittany Lions coach Clarisa Crowell was asked about an update after the game.

“Not really sure,” Crowell said, “Kylee’s a tough kid so we’ll see how it goes this weekend.”

Senior Ally Kurland led off the bottom of the fourth with a single and after two more Nittany Lions reached base, Kaitlyn Morrison lined a ball into right field to score the first run of the game.

After allowing the run, Bucknell went to its bullpen bringing in first-year pitcher Madison Roukey. Roukey faced Lilia Crouthamel and on a 3-2 pitch, Crouthamel crushed the pitch over the center field wall for her first career grand slam, extending the lead to 5-0.

“Not everyone gets to do that, it’s great,” Crouthamel said, “I was just happy I could get some runs on the board.”

Crouthamel had another second bases-loaded at-bat in the fifth inning, but was unable to drive in any runs.

“My emotions got the best of me there,” Crouthamel said.

Bucknell cashed in a run-off of back-to-back doubles from MaKenzie Hilling and Nicole Rivait. That was the last of the scoring in the game, as the Nittany Lions rolled through the remainder of the play.

The Nittany Lions brought in Bailey Parshall to shut down the game in the sixth.

Parshall allowed the Bison to load the bases in that inning, before escaping the jam with a strikeout. She would have no problem closing the game in the seventh, leaving the final score at 5-1.

The Nittany Lions take on the Purdue Boilermakers this weekend. Crowell mentioned that her that her team is “Ready to get back into conference play,”

“Purdue is a pretty good team and we can’t take them lightly,” Crouthamel said. “I think it’s gonna be a fun weekend.”

Evan Smith is a first-year majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him, email ers5828@psu.edu