Lyon, Wall, Shine in Senior Day Victory

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April 28, 2013

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IOWA CITY, Iowa — The University of Iowa softball team used a complete game shutout from senior Chelsea Lyon and a game-high three hits from senior Bradi Wall to blank Penn State, 5-0, in the final contest of a three-game set Sunday at Pearl Field.

The game, Iowa’s final Big Ten home contest, served as Senior Day. The Hawkeyes honored Ashley Akers, Johnnie Dowling, Lyon, Sam Valentine, Wall, and team manager Cameron Cole following the victory.

“Today was a great day,” said UI head coach Marla Looper. “Beautiful weather and a great crowd; it was a great day to honor our seniors. We came out ready to play, controlled what we could, and allowed ourselves to get the win by staying aggressive throughout the game.”

Lyon, pitching in her final league game at Pearl Field, tossed one of her best outings of the season, allowing zero runs on three hits while striking out two Nittany Lions. The three hits allowed and seven innings pitched match season bests. Penn State singled in its first-at bat of the game and did not record another hit until the seventh inning. Lyon retired 10-straight batters from the third inning to the seventh.

Lyon — who ranks 10th in program history in career strikeouts (345) — pitched the final four and two-thirds in scoreless fashion on Saturday. She shut out Penn State during the final 11.2 innings of the series, compiling seven strikeouts.

“Chelsea did a nice job today,” said Looper. “In the bullpen before the game, we told her to just go out and throw like she did yesterday. If you do, you will have a good outing. She did exactly that.”

“Chelsea did a great job in the circle,” said Wall. “We have been getting runners on base; we just have to make sure we score them early and often in support of our pitchers.”

Iowa did just that, plating runners in the second, third and fifth innings. In the second, Holly Hoffman just missed a home run, doubling off the wall in left center. Nikki Gentile entered as a pinch runner and scored as Sammi Gyerman smacked a single back up the middle.

In the third, Wall roped her third career home run over the fence in right with one away to extend the lead to 2-0. Megan Blank followed with a single to center, extending her reached-base streak to 35 games, including all 20 league contests. After flying to the warning track her first time up in the second, Kayla Massey got her pitch in the third, launching Iowa’s second home run of the day over the fence in right to push the lead to 4-0.

Massey added an RBI single to center with the bases loaded in the fifth to make the final score, 5-0.

Penn State’s Macy Jones took the loss after earning the victory for Penn State during the first two games of the series. She allowed four runs on six hits in two and two-thirds.

The Hawkeyes out-hit the visitors, 8-3. Wall and Massey led the charge at the plate, recording multi-hit games. Massey went 2-for-3 with three RBIs and Wall finished a perfect 3-for-3 with an RBI and two runs scored.

“Bradi did a nice job getting some deep counts,” said Looper. “She saw some good pitches, and when she did, she took advantage of them.”

Iowa improves to 26-23 overall and 5-15 in league play; Penn State falls to 14-31 and 4-15 in conference play. The Nittany Lions won the first two games of the three-game set to win the series.

The Hawkeyes continue action Wednesday, hosting Iowa State in the final contest of the 2012-13 Iowa Corn Cy-Hawk Series. First pitch for Iowa’s home finale is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. at Pearl Field.