April 1, 2011
Game Notes | 2011 Yearbook | Nittany Lion Softball Park | Twitter
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- The Nittany Lion softball team treks to Urbana, Ill. for a two-game set at Illinois starting Saturday at 3:00 p.m. ET. The series concludes at Noon ET on Sunday as both games will have live stats coverage through GameTracker and web streaming on BigTenNetwork.com.
PENN STATE NITTANY LIONS (16-12, 2-0 Big Ten)
Games #29-30 •â€ˆApril 2-3 • Eichelberger Field • Urbana, Ill.
| Date | Opponent | Media |
| Saturday, 3:00 p.m. ET | Illinois | | BigTenNetwork.com |
| Sunday, Noon ET | Illinois | | BigTenNetwork.com |
GAME STORIES
• PSU hits the road for the first of two straight Big Ten series while enduring a six-game road trip
• Penn State looks to go 3-0 in Big Ten play for the first time since 2000
• Nittany Lions search for first win against Illinois since 2008 and first at Eichelberger since 2004
• Lions coming off doubleheader split at Pittsburgh where Jackie Hill won her 53rd career game, tying Missy Beseres's school record for victories, while striking out a career-high 12 batters
• Lisa Akamine and Cassidy Bell are the reigning Big Ten Pitcher and Co-Player of the Week
• PSU is coming off a two-game sweep against Wisconsin with come-from-behind wins at brand new Nittany Lion Softball Park
• Penn State is 7-12 all-time in Big Ten road openers, including 0-2 at Illinois
• Nittany Lions currently rank 47th in the latest RPI with a 4-7 record against Top 50 opponents
• Cassidy Bell is on a team-best six-game hitting streak while leading the team in average (.291), runs (12), hits (25), doubles (9), homers (4), RBI (15) and slugging (.558)
• Nittany Lion pitching has held opposing teams to .190 hitting and a 1.65 ERA
GAME STORIES
PITTSBURGH RECAP: Penn State ran into a hot Pittsburgh Panther squad Tuesday, Mar. 29, as Pitt inaugurated Vartabedian Field at the Petersen Sports Complex. The Panthers gained an early unearned run in the third inning before Cassidy Bell singled home Rachel Myers to knot the game in the fifth. Right-handed hurler Lisa Akamine couldn't hold the Panthers at bay as Pitt scored a walk-off run in the seventh inning, tagging Akamine with the loss despite a solid outing. Akamine struck out six, scattered six hits and walked three to fall to 6-6 on the year. In Game Two, Pittsburgh pitcher Karlyn Jones retired the first 16 Nittany Lions and carried a no-hitter through 5.2 innings, but Bell struck again bombing a 2-2 pitch for a 2-0 PSU lead. Jackie Hill fired her fifth shutout of the year with a career-high 12 strikeouts while giving up just four hits and walking none to capture career win No. 53, tying her with Missy Beseres for most in PSU history. Bell went 2-for-5 with 3 RBI for the Nittany Lions.
BIG TEN/INAUGURAL OPENER  RECAP: Penn State played in the highest-scoring game of the year in the inaugural opener of Beard Field and Nittany Lion Park on Saturday, Mar. 26, as the Lions won 8-5 over Wisconsin. Penn State fought back from a three-run deficit keyed by an inside-the-park homer by Lisa Akamine in the fifth to tie it and a three-run sixth inning to clinch the victory. Akamine was also instrumental in keeping the Badgers off the board as she pitched 3.2 innings of scoreless and hitless ball. The sixth-inning rally was started by an Alyssa Sovereign double to lead off and a Kasie Hatfield single put PSU ahead 6-5 with one out. Cassidy Bell doubled home two more runs to cap her 2-for-4 day. The next day, the game belonged to Bell as she doubled in both her first two at-bats before being walked in the final two. Penn State held a 1-0 lead before a solo homer by Wisconsin in the fourth tied the game up before the Badgers scored a run in the top of the eighth for a momentary lead. Bell earned first on a five-pitch walk, eventually scoring from third on a passed ball to tie the game. The next batter was Sovereign and she laced a single to left to score Shannon Hutchinson to give Penn State the 3-2 walk-off win, the first for PSU in 2011. The two comeback victories were just the second and third of the year.
Jackie Hill and Alyssa Renwick with Bill Beard. |
QUEEN OF THE HILL: Thanks to two terrific victories over Fresno State and Oklahoma, Jackie Hill moved two steps closer to claiming the all-time victories record at Penn State. On Tuesday, Hill shut out Pittsburgh, 2-0, to tie Missy Beseres (2002-06) for most wins in PSU history. Hill passed the duo of Jaci Kalp (1997-2000) and Ashley Esparza (2005-08) who are now third with 49 victories while in California. Additionally, Hill has struck out 588 batters during her four-plus years in Happy Valley and she is closing in on second place (Esparza, 593). Beseres is the all-time strikeouts leader with 745.
SCOUTING THE FIGHTING ILLINI: Illinois (15-12, 2-0 Big Ten) are riding a four-game winning streak following defeats of Southern Illinois (5-2), Michigan State (6-3, 3-2) and Bradley (11-4). The Fighting Illini have always been known for their hitting prowess and 2011 is no different with the team batting .284 collectively and six everyday players hitting over .300. All-American Danielle Zymkowitz leads the team in runs (28), hits (34) and stolen bases (9) while Meredith Hackett has been a powerful force with a .360 average, 10 doubles, five homers and a team-high 25 RBI while slugging .693. In the pitcher's circle, Pepper Gay has led the Illini with a 2.39 ERA and a 9-7 record. Gay has struck out 89 batters in 96.2 innings pitched while walking 66 and sporting a measly .215 batters average against. Jackie Guy is Illinois' other starting pitcher who is 6-5 with a 2.83 ERA and a .262 batting average against. Last year Penn State dropped 3-2 and 4-0 contests to the Illini in Happy Valley.
BIG TEN ROAD OPENERS: Penn State is 7-12 all-time in Big Ten road openers including a 4-10 mark during Robin Petrini's tenure. PSU is in search of its first Big Ten road-opening win since an 8-0 triumph at Purdue (3/31/2006). PSU is 0-2 at Illinois in Big Ten road openers. Penn State is looking for its first 3-0 start in Big Ten play since 2000 when the Nittany Lions went 5-0.
BIG TEN WEEKLY HONORS: Penn State softball student-athletes Lisa Akamine and Cassidy Bell were recognized by the Big Ten Conference for their efforts in the Nittany Lion sweep of Wisconsin (Mar. 26-27). Akamine was named the Big Ten Pitcher of the Week, while Bell took home Co-Player of the Week honors with Liz Watkins of Iowa. Akamine allowed a lone hit in 8.2 innings of work while winning Saturday's inaugural game at Beard Field for the Nittany Lions and starting Sunday's victory against Wisconsin. Akamine proved instrumental in the win over the Badgers on Saturday, coming in relief to earn the win while pitching 3.2 innings of scoreless and hitless softball. The award was Akamine's second having won it similar honors on Mar. 29, 2010. Bell captured her first Big Ten weekly honor as Co-Player of the Week for her four-double effort against the Badgers this weekend. The sophomore centerfielder was only retired once all weekend by the Wisconsin pitching staff as she hit .667 with two RBI and game-tying run on Sunday in the eighth inning. Bell added two stolen bases and two runs scores as Wisconsin failed to get her out on Sunday during PSU's 3-2 victory. The last Nittany Lion to take home Player of the Week honors was Danielle Kinley on Feb. 13, 2007.
RPI UPDATE: Penn State sits in 44th place in the latest NCAA Ratings Percentage Index, the primary tool used by the NCAA Tournament Selection Committee. Last week the Nittany Lions were 47th and Penn State has a 4-7 record against the Top 50, including a 2-4 mark vs. Top 25 foes. Illinois is rated 33rd while fellow Big Ten opponents Michigan (7th), and Northwestern (37th) are join PSU and Illinois in the Top 50. Penn State still faces battles with Longwood (60th), Purdue (61st), Michigan State (64th), Iowa (71st) and Minnesota (92nd).
JUDI GARMAN CLASSIC RECAP: The Penn State Nittany Lions went 2-3 at the Judi Garman Classic in Fullerton, Calif. PSU played No. 6 Arizona State tough, but fell, 5-1, as PSU allowed three unearned runs due to errors. The Lions bounced back as Jackie Hill pitched a shutout against Fresno State, 1-0. Lisa Akamine drove home the winning run in the sixth on a single to left field. PSU followed that up with a dominating 5-2 victory over Oklahoma as the Lions pounded a season-high 13 hits and Hill didn't allow a run for the first 6.2 innings. Alyssa Sovereign went 3-for-4 in the game, while Cassidy Bell struck for a lead-off homer in the top of the first inning on the third pitch of the game. Unfortunately, Penn State ran out of steam in 2-1 and 1-0 losses to Pacific and Boise State last Saturday.
BUCKHEAD CLASSIC RECAP: Penn State garnered a 3-1 record at the SpringHill Suites Buckhead Classic (Mar. 11-13) hosted by Georgia Tech at Mewborn Field. PSU swept aside Bowling Green (8-0, five innings) and Georgia State (1-0) on the first day. The Nittany Lion bats produced 11 hits scoring eight runs in the first three innings against BGSU buoyed by a five-run third. Pitcher Lisa Akamine did it all throwing four scoreless and hitless innings while going 3-for-3 at the plate with an RBI and two runs scored. Against Georgia State, Jackie Hill picked up the shutout allowing only three GSU hits while Shannon Hutchinson scored an unearned run in the sixth inning. Penn State fell to Georgia Tech, 6-0, behind four homers by the Yellow Jackets before salvaging a 4-0 win over Belmont as Akamine helped PSU to its second one-hit shutout of the weekend. PSU scored three runs in the second inning as four Nittany Lions-Cassidy Bell, Danee Collett, Jackie Hill and Mary Ostman-tallied multi-hit games.
SPRING BREAK MID-WEEK RECAP: PSU's mid-week games (Mar. 8-10) got off on the right foot when Penn State pulled out a 2-1, eight-inning game at Kennesaw State when Cassidy Bell jacked her second homer of the week for the slim victory. Jackie Hill went all eight innings, striking out six while giving up a lone unearned run and three hits. PSU's bats went silent in the next two games dropping 2-0 and 8-0 decisions to Georgia Tech and No. 1 Georgia, respectively. The game against Georgia was added at the last minute as PSU's games at Auburn were cancelled.
BUZZ CLASSIC RECAP: Penn State went a perfect 3-0 at the rainy and chilly Buzz Classic (Mar. 4-6), which saw all of Saturday's games cancelled and another of PSU's matchups on Sunday, Mar. 5 get washed away. Jackie Hill and Lisa Akamine pitched back-to-back 1-0 shutouts against Massachusetts and Miami (Ohio), respectively. Both games were quite similar as Penn State needed solo home runs to win each game: the first against UMass came from Cassidy Bell and the second came from freshman Kasie Hatfield vs. Miami. In Sunday's night game, PSU square off with Jacksonville State as the two teams combined for 10 runs, 15 hits and three errors and the Nittany Lions pulling out a key 6-4 win. PSU fell itself down 2-0 after the Gamecocks opened the game hot with four straight hits. Danee Collett's RBI singles in the third and fifth evened the score before Kailyn Johnson rocked a three-run homer to right and give the Lions a 5-2 lead they'd never relinquish.
BUZZ CLASSIC ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM: Penn State had one representative, Jackie Hill, on the 10-person Buzz Classic All-Tournament Team. Hill went a perfect 2-0 during the weekend, allowing just two earned runs against Jacksonville State, while shutting out Massachusetts.
CAROLINA CLASSIC RECAP: Penn State's bats woke up on the first day of the Carolina Classic in wins over FIU (3-0) and Georgetown (6-0). Jackie Hill threw a one-hitter, coming one strike short of a no-hitter against FIU. Freshman Alyssa Sovereign led the offense wtih a 6-for-6 day at the plate with three doubles, three runs, three RBI and her first career homer between the two games. Lisa Akamine captured a complete game shutout vs. Georgetown behind 10 strikeouts. In a frustrating and quirky Sunday, Penn State fell 1-0 to FIU after Cassidy Bell's homer in the fourth inning was wiped out by an umpire's appeal that Bell failed to touch home. That proved to be the difffence as FIU forced extra innings and went on to win in the bottom of the 8th. Against North Carolina, PSU hit the ball hard including two shots down each foul line that missed being crucial homers. Despite the many line drives, UNC's Lori Spingola picked up the perfect game, in a 3-0 win.
FAU KICK-OFF CLASSIC RECAP: The Nittany Lions went 2-3 in an up-and-down weekend at Florida Atlantic (Feb. 18-20). Penn State opened the weekend with a 3-1 win over Tulsa on Friday before falling 10-0 to Massachusetts. PSU wrapped up the weekend with a 1-0 loss to Long Island, a 2-1 win over host FAU and a 3-0 loss to Tulsa. The mixed performances saw solid pitching out of Jackie Hill and Lisa Akamine who combined for a 1.69 earned run average in 29 innings of work with 23 strikeouts. The duo held teams to a .228 batting average as well keeping the Nittany Lions in each of their games. At the plate, Desi Giordano stood out with a .333 batting average and a .600 on-base percentage with three hits, two runs and a homer vs. Tulsa. Danee Collett (.308) was the only other Lion to tally an average over .300 going 4-for-13 with a double. Cassidy Bell had the best one-game performance of all the PSU bats with a 3-for-4 showing vs. FAU notching a double and both the team's RBI.
MAY THE FOURTH BE WITH YOU: Senior co-captain Desi Giordano climbed up the record books on Feb. 18 with a long bomb to left field, her first of the season and 20th in her career. The homer moved Giordano into a tie for fourth all-time at Penn State with Jen Acunto (2005-08). Giordano is just three off from matching Jennifer Tripken (1999-2002) and five from Ashley Esparza (2005-08) from third and second, respectively. PSU's all-time home run leader is Shannon Salsburg who belted 34 from 1995-98.
BIG LIFE. BIG STATE. BIG TEN NETWORK: Four Penn State softball games will be televised live by the Big Ten Network in 2011. PSU's doubleheader will be the live TV debut of Nittany Lion Softball Park and Beard Field when Penn State plays host to Michigan on Apr. 20. The doubleheader starts at 5:30 p.m. against the defending Big Ten champs. A third home contest will be aired May 1 against Purdue at Noon while a lone away game, vs. Iowa, will be shown May 8 at 2:00 p.m. All game times are Eastern. In addition to the live schedule, the Nittany Lions will be apart of several BigTenNetwork.com streaming productions, which are run through the Big Ten Network's Student U initiative. Many of those games are shown on the Network the following day in a tape delay fashion after their live stream. Penn State will have two such series on BTN.com as Kent State and Northwestern games at Penn State will be on there. Penn State's games against Illinois will be on BigTenNetwork.com this weekend.
RETURNING TO THE FOLD: Penn State's 2011 squad remains relatively intact from last year's team due to graduate of just one everyday starter in Ashley Griffith. All told, Penn State has 15 letterwinners from a year ago returning including the top three Nittany Lions in batting average (Cassidy Bell, Danee Collett, Lauren Rossi) and hits (Bell, Collett, Kailyn Johnson) as well as the top two pitchers in Jackie Hill and Lisa Akamine.
NEW ADDITIONS: Penn State figures to improve with newcomers Alyssa Sovereign, Kasie Hatfield, Liz Presto, Jordan Wheatley and Jenn Edsall. Sovereign looks to fill the vacant spot in the outfield left by Griffith, while Hatfield and Presto have shown powerful hitting at the plate. Wheatley and Edsall are expected to back up and give depth in the pitching circle.
DIFFICULT 2011 SCHEDULE: The Nittany Lions will once again face some of the best teams in the country. By the numbers, the 2011 non-conference schedule will be one of the toughest in the country as 22 of Penn State's 26 scheduled non-Big Ten opponents participated in postseason action in 2010. Additionally, 10 of the first 12 scheduled opponents sported a winning record last year totaling eight NCAA Tournament appearances. Penn State will play at least 21 games this year against teams that won 30 or more games last season with 10 who won at least 40.
ALL-BIG TEN RETURNEE: Junior pitcher Lisa Akamine returns to the Nittany Lions as the lone All-Big Ten honoree having claimed third-team honors in 2009 and 2010. Fellow pitcher Jackie Hill is Penn State's only NFCA All-Great Lakes mention after her second-team performance in 2008.
FALL BALL REDUX: Penn State played six games this offseason going 4-2. PSU's hitting was superb knocking home 29 runs altogether. The Nittany Lions defeated Lock Haven (8-3), Virginia Tech (4-0) and Liberty (3-2 and 7-2), while falling to Bucknell (7-6) and Virginia Tech (11-1).
PSULIONSOFTBALL ON TWITTER: Nittany Lion softball is now on Twitter. Keep up to date with inside information and exclusive access @PSULionSoftball.
NEXT SERIES: Penn State continues its six-game road swing when it travels to East Lansing, Mich. for a mid-week doubleheader against the Spartans of Michigan State on Wednesday. The doubleheader is slated for 3:00 p.m. at Secchia Stadium, MSU's new ballpark on the same footprint as Old College Field. Penn State will then return home for a two-game set against Indiana starting Saturday, Apr. 9 (5:00 p.m.) and concluding Sunday, Apr. 10 (2:00 p.m.). Prior to the two-game home set, a special dedication ceremony will be held to honor Nittany Lion Softball Park and Beard Field on Friday evening. Penn State dignataries such as President Dr. Graham Spanier, Director of Athletics Tim Curley, Board of Trustees member Steve Garban and the Beards will be on hand.
--NITTANY LIONS--