UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa., May 9, 2007-
No. 8 Penn State to take on No. 1 Ohio State
The Lions will head back to Columbus after only two days back in Happy Valley for the Big Ten Tournament. Penn State comes into the tournament as the eight seed and will take on the regular season champion Buckeyes for the third time in less than a week. Penn State and Ohio State will play the second game on day one of the single elimination tournament, with the first pitch at 7:30 p.m. The Lions and Buckeyes also met in the first round of last year??s tournament with Ohio State emerging with a 9-6 win.
Lions?? Record Against the Buckeyes
Penn State has dropped three straight contests to Ohio State, starting with last year??s Big Ten Tournament and continuing through this season??s two games. Last weekend, Penn State dropped a 4-2 decision in a rainy affair on Saturday, May 5 and then lost on Sunday, May 6, 4-0. Last season, Penn State defeated Ohio State twice in the regular season, 4-2 and 1-0, but the Buckeyes captured a 9-6 win in the first round of the Big Ten Tournament. This year, the Lions will look to play spoiler to the regular season champions after dropping both regular season games. The Penn State and Ohio State series began in 1975. The Buckeyes hold a 35-26 all-time edge in the series. Under head coach Robin Petrini, the Lions are 11-14 against the Buckeyes. Since Penn State joined the Big Ten in 1992, Ohio State has a 25-14 series lead.
Nittany Lions Fall to Ohio State in Regular Season Finale
The Big Ten regular season crown was on the line as Penn State took the field against Ohio State. A sweep by the Buckeyes would give them the title, while a single Penn State win would hand the title to Northwestern. After three scoreless innings in game one, Ohio State broke through with two runs in both the fourth and fifth for a 4-0 lead. An almost-two hour rain delay between the fifth and sixth innings held up the action. Once back on the field, Penn State came out swinging. Hollee Haines (Riverside, Calif.) led off the seventh with a double to right field. Jenn Reynolds (Clovis, Calif.) was walked and Shana Madura (Slate Hill, N.Y.) reached on an error to load the bases. A double to left center from Ashley Griffith (Mt. Laurel, N.J.) brought Haines and Reynolds around to score and made the score 4-2 with runners on second and third. The Lion rally was cut short after a base running mistake gave the Buckeyes the final out of the game. Game two was a tense affair through the first six innings with both teams having multiple runners left on base. In the seventh inning, Ohio State broke through with four runs and Penn State could not recover, dropping the game, 4-0.
Penn State??s History in the Big Ten Tournament
Last season, No. 5 seed Penn State dropped the opening game of the conference tournament to No. 4 seed Ohio State, 9-6. Penn State has bowed out of the tournament in the first round for the last three straight years. The Nittany Lions have been to eight of the last nine Big Ten Tournaments, including the last four straight. Penn State is 9-11 all-time in the conference tournament.
Records to Watch
Several Nittany Lions are close to setting season and career records. Sophomore Danielle Kinley (Carlsbad, Calif.) is only two doubles away from breaking teammate Jen Acunto??s (Hollywood, Fla.) season record of 18. As for career records, Acunto currently sits tied for first all-time in doubles with 38, after hitting one against Ohio State last weekend. Ashley Esparza (San Pedro, Calif.) is tied for fourth on the career doubles list with 31. After hitting three doubles in the last four games, junior Hollee Haines is currently in 10th in career doubles with 25. Four juniors on this year??s squad hold places on the top 10 career homeruns list. Acunto leads the way for the class, sitting in third with 19 career homers. Right on her tail is Esparza with 18. Jenn Reynolds is in eighth with 14 homers and Hollee Haines sits in ninth with 13. Senior Meghan Wolfer (Northampton, Pa.) has 53 career sacrifice hits, giving her second all-time to Dena Tauriello??s 69.