| Penn State is making its seventh appearance in the past eight years in the Big Ten Tournament. Starting third baseman Destinie Chavez and the No. 5 seed Lions meet No. 4 seed Ohio State on Friday at 5:30 p.m. ET. |
- Player Notes
- Big Ten Notes
- Current Stats
- Stats vs. Big Ten
Penn State Nittany Lions (37-14, 10-10 Big Ten)
Penn State Looks for Three-Game Sweep of Ohio State in Big Ten Quarterfinals... After beating the Buckeyes 4-2, 1-0 over the weekend to improve to the No. 5 seed for the Big Ten Tournament, Penn State (37-14, 10-10 Big Ten) must beat No. 4 seed Ohio State (37-20, 11-7 Big Ten) again at 12:30p.m. ET Friday to reach the Big Ten Semifinals. If they beat the Buckeyes, the Lions would meet the winner of the No. 1 Northwestern vs. No. 8 Illinois contest that will be held on Thursday, May 11 at 5:30 p.m. ET. The Big Ten Tournament is being hosted by conference champion Northwestern. The championship game on Saturday, May 13 is scheduled for 1 p.m. ET live on CSTV.
Live Internet Coverage for This Week... All of the Lions?? games at the Big Ten Tournament will be broadcast on www.GoPSUsports.com as well as live locally on WBLF 970 AM. All games will also be available via live stats and live streaming video on www.GoPSUsports.com.
Penn State Making Seventh Big Ten Appearance in Eight Years... Penn State??s berth in this year??s Big Ten Tournament is the seventh overall for the Lions in the past eight years. PSU has also earned tournament bids in 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2004 and 2005.
Penn State in the Big Ten Tournament... The Lions have a 9-10 overall record in the Big Ten Tournament. Last year, No. 6 seed Penn State lost its opening game to No. 3 seed Iowa, 1-0. The Lions?? last Big Ten Tournament win was a 5-3 victory over Illinois in 2002. Penn State won three games in that double-elimination format tournament.
Last Time Out... Entering the weekend in seventh place in the conference with an 8-10 Big Ten record, Penn State did what it needed to do to move up in the Big Ten standings, sweeping Ohio State by scores of 4-2 and 1-0. In game one, three RBIs from sophomore Jen Acunto (Hollywood, Fla.) and the game-winning RBI from freshman slugger Danielle Kinley (Carlsbad, Calif.) lifted Penn State to the 4-2 victory, with redshirt-senior Missy Beseres (Golden Valley, Minn.) getting her 53rd career win. On Sunday, hurler Jenn Reynolds (Clovis, Calif.) struck out four Buckeyes en route to the 1-0 victory. Junior Jen Williams (Stillwater, Okla.) drove in the game-winning run in the top of the seventh inning to keep the Lions perfect vs. Ohio State so far this season.
The Ohio State Series... Penn State is 25-31 all-time vs. the Buckeyes in a series that dates back to 1975. Head coach Robin Petrini is 11-9 against the Nittany Lions?? state school rival after a sweep this past weekend.
Petrini Gets Career Win No. 300, Becomes Penn State??s All-Time Winningest Head Coach... The Nittany Lions?? 8-0 victory in game two vs. Bucknell on April 11 signaled Penn State head coach Robin Petrini??s 300th of her career. Petrini is in her 10th season with the Lions and now has a 312-248-1 career mark after going 2-0 this past weekend. Versus Michigan State on Saturday, April 22, Petrini??s 1-0 win over the Spartans marked victory No. 307 with the Lions, setting a new record for wins by a Penn State head coach.
Petrini has guided the Lions to five NCAA Tournament appearances, seven Big Ten Tournament appearances and six 30-win seasons.
Beseres Breaks Penn State??s Career Record for Wins... When redshirt-senior Missy Beseres pitched the Lions to a 1-0 victory vs. Michigan State on April 22, the win marked her 50th win, setting a new Penn State record. After another win last weekend over Ohio State, Beseres now sits at 53 career victories and counting. Thus far, she has struck out 223 batters this season and is pursuing her single season record set last year of 260. For her career, Beseres has amassed 735 strikeouts.
Postseason Dates Still Remain on Penn State Radio Schedule... WBLF and www.GoPSUsports.com are your hosts for all of Penn State softball??s postseason action. The following potential dates remain on the schedule:
May 12 Big Ten Tourn. vs. Ohio State 12:30 p.m. ET
May 12 Big Ten Tourn. Semifinals 5:30 p.m. ET
May 13 Big Ten Tourn. Championship 1 p.m. ET
May 19-22 NCAA Regionals
NCAA Selection Show... The NCAA softball selection show will be held at 3:30 p.m. ET on Sunday, May 14. The show will be aired live on ESPNEWS.