March 5, 2008
BATON ROUGE, La. - Senior Ashley Esparza (San Pedro, Calif./San Pedro), junior Danielle Kinley (Carlsbad, Calif./Carlsbad) and redshirt-freshman Jackie Hill (San Jose, Calif./Leigh) of the Penn State University softball team were all named to the All-Tournament team at last weekend's Easton Purple and Gold Challenge. Penn State was one of only two schools to have three players on the team. The other school with three was tournament champion LSU.
Esparza pitched 19.2 innings including a one-hit shutout of #9 LSU during the three-day tournament. She recorded 23 strikeouts and had a record of 1-1 with a 0.36 ERA. She also had two hits including a game-tying homerun in the eventual extra-inning loss to Tulsa. Despite having only two hits she recorded a .471 on-base percentage thanks to her four walks and two hit-by-pitches.
Senior Ashley Esparza Held No. 9 LSU to a Season-Low One Hit |
Kinley recorded a .333 batting average with four hits and two runs scored. She also recorded a homerun and three RBIs over the weekend. Her .667 slugging percentage was tops on the team. She also had a errorless run in the outfield recording four putouts in four chances.
Hill was the final Nittany Lion named to the team with her team-leading .375 batting average and her 2-1 pitching record including two complete games and a shutout. She pitched 17.0 innings recording 15 strikeouts. She had three hits and one run scored while at the plate.
This marks Espraza's second post-tournament honor as she was named the MVP of the East Carolina Pirate Classic.
The Nittany Lions will next be in action this Friday, March 7 as they begin play in the USF Under Armour Invitational in Clearwater, Florida.