May 10, 2011
Game Notes | 2011 Yearbook | Nittany Lion Softball Park | Twitter
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- The Nittany Lion softball team closes out its season this week with four games starting with a doubleheader at Ohio State on Wednesday beginning at 5 p.m. The matchups can be seen live on OhioStateBuckeyes.com video and followed on GameTracker and Twitter (@PSULionSoftball).
Penn State's regular season ends this weekend against Northwestern. NU visits Beard Field for the first time on Friday at 5:00 p.m. for Girl Scout and Pink Day. Fans are encouraged to wear pink to the game and stay after for post-game autographs. Sunday's game against the Wildcats begins at 1:00 p.m. with a Senior Day ceremony for Desi Giordano (West Caldwell, N.J.), Jackie Hill (San Jose, Calif.) and Mary Ostman (Northbrook, Ill.) taking place prior to first pitch. Both of the Northwestern games can be seen live on BigTenNetwork.com and heard on GoPSUsports.com All-Access as well as 1390 AM WRSC in State College.
PENN STATE NITTANY LIONS (25-22-1, 7-8-1 Big Ten)
Games #49-50 •â€ˆMay 11 • Buckeye Field • Columbus, Ohio
Games #51-52 • May 13-14 • Nittany Lion Softball Park • University Park, Pa.
>
| Date | Opponent | Media |
| Wednesday, Game One | at Ohio State | | Live Video |
| Wednesday, Game Two | at Ohio State | | Live Video |
| Friday, 5:00 p.m. | Northwestern | | BigTenNetwork.com Video |
| Saturday, 1:00 p.m. | Northwestern | | BigTenNetwork.com Video |
GAME STORIES
 Penn State treks to Ohio State for a makeup DH before hosting Northwestern in home finale
• Nittany Lions went 1-1 at Iowa last weekend, dropping a 1-0 game before winning 3-2
• Lisa Akamine has thrown 17 consecutive innings of scoreless softball
• Akamine earned Capital One/CoSIDA Academic All-District II Honors
• First baseman Kailyn Johnson leads the team in average (.322), RBI (27) and walks (26)
• Johnson is 16 hits away from 100 in her career
• Centerfielder Cassidy Bell is the team's leader in runs (26), hits (42) and doubles (12)
• Bell is 3 hits away from 100 in her career
• Jackie Hill leads the team in innings (179.0) and strikeouts (162)
• Hill is 25 strikeouts away from 675 in her career
• Kasie Hatfield went a career-best 3-for-3 on Saturday in loss to Iowa.
GAME NOTES
LAST TIME OUT: A two-out, seventh-inning grounder could not be corralled as Iowa walked away with a 1-0 win over Penn State on Saturday, May 7, at Pearl Field. PSU starter Jackie Hill pitched 6.2 innings without allowing an earned run and Kasie Hatfield had a career-best perfect 3-for-3 day at the plate. Penn State used two-run, third-inning rally to down the Hawkeyes, 3-2, on Sunday. Lisa Akamine went 2-for-4 with an RBI and a double at the plate, while earning her 11th win in the circle. Kailyn Johnson choppe a grounder to third, which was mishandled as Cassidy Bell rounded third to grab Penn State's first lead of the weekend and a split. Alyssa Sovereign chipped in with an RBI double to score PSU's first run.
SCOUTING THE BUCKEYES: Ohio State (14-33, 3-13 Big Ten) enters Wednesday following a split with Michigan State, winning Sunday 1-0 behind Karisa Medrano's two-hit shutout. The performance was Medrano's best of the year as she earned her first shutout of the season to drop her ERA to 4.42 and up her record to 8-18. She has recorded 100 strikeouts to lead a staff that has missed reigning Big Ten Freshman of the Year, Melanie Nichols. The pitching staff has a 5.88 ERA with a .310 batting average against. At the plate the Buckeyes are hitting .249 led by slugger Alicia Herron (.358, 10 doubles, eight homers, 27 RBI). Evelyn Carillo leads the team with 33 runs batted in this season.
SCOUTING THE WILDCATS: Northwestern (23-18, 5-11 Big Ten) snapped a five-game losing streak with an emphatic 4-1 upset of Indiana, who was on a nation-leading 15-game winning streak. Marisa Bast hit a grand slam off All-American Morgan Melloh to help the Wildcats overcome a 1-0 deficit. Adrienne Monka leads the team in all the major offensive categories, hitting .488 with a nation's best 63 walks. She has hit 10 dingers and 37 RBI to go along with a .917 slugging percentage. Emily Allard isn't far behind in average (.487) as the lead off slapper has stolen 41 bases and set the table for the NU offense. Northwestern's pitching staff has struggled with a 3.15 ERA with a three-pitcher rotation of Sammy Albanese (7-6, 3.10 ERA, 79.0 IP), Jessica Smith (8-10, 3.15 ERA, 137.2 IP) and Meghan Lamberth (8-2, 3.23 ERA, 52.0). Smith has taken over the bulk of the innings during Big Ten play, pitching 59.2 of the 102 total innings, while Albanese has picked up 35.1 innings of work.
COMEBACK KIDS: Penn State has played well when in front with a 17-1 record when scoring first, while failing to overcome a deficit in a game until Mar. 6 against Jacksonville State. There, the Nittany Lions scored six straight runs to turn a 2-0 game into an eventual 6-4 victory. Since Mar. 26, nine of Penn State's last 12 wins have been in comeback fashion including the first four Big Ten victories and six of seven Big Ten victories overall.
SCORELESS STREAK:  Lisa Akamine has thrown 17 consecutive innings of scoreless softball since giving up two runs to Purdue on April 30. In that span, Akamine is 2-0 along with a no decision that came in an eight-inning, one-hit gem against the Boilers due to a 0-0 tie. Akamine has proven herself capable with long scoreless streaks as she went 32.2 innings without allowing an earned run from Feb. 19 vs. Florida Atlantic until Mar. 8 against Georgia Tech.
AKAMINE'S ACADEMIC HONOR: Standout pitcher Lisa Akamine was named to the Capital One/CoSIDA Academic All-District II Team for the first time on Thursday, May 5. For the fifth straight year and 11th time in head coach Robin Petrini's 15 years at the helm of Penn State's softball program, a Nittany Lion garnered CoSIDA Academic All-District Honors. Akamine headlined the lone team in District II that featured members from Lehigh, Bucknell, Robert Morris, Temple, Monmouth and Saint Francis (Pa.). Last season, Penn State's Ashley Griffith earned Academic All-District II First Team accolades en route to All-America Third Team honors, Penn State's eighth CoSIDA Academic All-American. Along with Griffith, Danee Collett landed on the All-District II Second Team. Akamine is the 22nd Academic All-District student-athlete from Penn State and 13th to make the first team. Akamine is now eligible for Academic All-America honors.
RPI UPDATE: Penn State sits in 44th place in the latest NCAA Ratings Percentage Index (May 1), the primary tool used by the NCAA Tournament Selection Committee. Last week the Nittany Lions were 46th. Penn State's best wins are against No. 9 Oklahoma, No. 26 Tulsa and No. 32 Fresno State. Big Ten opponents Michigan (10th), Indiana (27th), Illinois (38th) and Northwestern (50th) PSU in the Top 50. Penn State faces Iowa this weekend who is ranked 56th.
PURDUE RECAP:  The Nittany Lion softball team overcame a three-run deficit on Saturday (Apr. 30) at Beard Field to defeat Purdue, 8-5. Penn State used a three-run third inning and a five-run fourth inning rally to cement the victory. Kailyn Johnson went 2-for-3 with two RBI and a run scored to lead the Nittany Lions. Lisa Akamine picked up the win going 4.1 innings with five strikeouts and just two hits and two runs no her ledger. Cassidy Bell scored two runs while the first six Nittany Lions in the order all tallied markers. On Sunday, Akamine shut down the powerful Boilermaker offense, but Penn State couldn't solve Purdue's Suzie Rzegocki as an odd game ended in a 0-0, eight-inning tie. The Nittany Lions and Boilers withstood a three hour, thirty-eight minute rain delay in the third inning as zeroes went across the board. Purdue had to leave Happy Valley in a hurry to catch its flight home. Akamine tallied a double to go along with her brilliant eight-inning, one-hit masterpiece where she struck out nine and walked only two. Lauren Rossi notched Penn State's only other hit, an eighth-inning single. The Nittany Lions held the speedy Boilermakers, Big Ten's leading squad in stolen bases, to just one swipe all series, a Molly Garst steal of second in the first inning on Sunday. Kasie Hatfield gunned her down trying to take third in the same inning ending Purdue's only scoring opportunity. The tie was the first in Big Ten history between conference schools.
LONGWOOD RECAP: The Nittany Lion softball team lost a pair of tough games on Easter Sunday to Longwood, 5-3 and 3-0, at Beard Field. Alyssa Sovereign tallied two hits on the afternoon for Penn State. In the doubleheader opener, Jackie Hill threw eight innings of five-hit ball, but it wasn't enough as the Nittany Lions' fielding let them down. Much like the first game, Longwood took a first-inning 1-0 lead when Nichole Simmons laced her sixth home run of the season over the leftfield wall to open the game. Longwood added two more in the fourth inning.
MICHIGAN RECAP: The Nittany Lion softball team gave a valiant effort against No. 1 Michigan, but dropped a pair of 5-4 games on Wednesday night (Apr. 20) at Beard Field. Penn State saw a slim 3-2 lead fade away in the opener and a seventh-inning rally cut short by a poor call at first base in the nightcap. Kailyn Johnson led the Nittany Lions with two homers and six runs batted in. Her homer in the first game was a go-ahead three-run shot, while the two-run homer in the second game should've been for three runs and tying the game. Cassidy Bell was incorrectly ruled out at first base on an earlier play, thwarting PSU's chances for an extra-inning game. In all, PSU belted 17 hits against the Wolverines while hitting .298 in the twinbill. Lauren Yao went 3-for-6 in the two games to run her hitting streak to a career-high eight games. Lisa Akamine and Alyssa Sovereign each chipped in with a pair of hits in the finale.
MINNESOTA RECAP: The Nittany Lion softball team used two first-inning runs and a Jackie Hill shutout to defeat Minnesota, 2-0, on Sunday (Apr. 17) at Jane Sage Cowles Stadium. Hill scattered eight Gopher hits for her sixth shutout of the season, while Cassidy Bell went 2-for-3. Lauren Yao tallied the game's only RBI, an infield single, to give PSU an insurance run. The win followed up a tough 1-0 loss on Saturday in which the travel-weary Nittany Lions out-hit the Gophers, 5-4, but an RBI double in the third gave Minnesota the win. Penn State played the game on little sleep after a nearly 17-hour travel day due to weather and other issues.
DOUBLE SWEEPS: Penn State softball won two different types of games in a Wednesday (Apr. 13) night doubleheader sweep of Kent State at cool and damp Beard Field. The Nittany Lions took the first game 9-1 in six innings before a walk-off two-run homer by Kailyn Johnson won the nightcap, 4-2, in eight innings. Nine different Penn State players tallied at least a hit paced by Cassidy Bell who went 2-for-3 with three runs scored and an RBI in the opener. Jackie Hill picked up the victory in game one before Lisa Akamine notched the win in the finale. On Thursday (Apr. 14), Penn State took two more games from a MAC opponent when it swept Buffalo, 4-3 and 7-4. PSU had to come from behind in both contests as Akamine posted two more victories. Johnson went 5-for-7 with three RBI in the two games, while Danee Collett posted a 2-for-2, three-RBI fifth inning to lead PSU to victory in the nightcap. The Nittany Lions pounded out 13 hits in game two, tying a season high, the most since 13 base knocks in a win over then-No. 9 Oklahoma.
INDIANA RECAP: Penn State ran into the buzz saw that was IU's Morgan Melloh as the super senior hurler threw back-to-back shutouts (3-0, 1-0) in a weekend sweep (Apr. 9-10) of the Nittany Lions. PSU's Jackie Hill went step for step with the All-American transfer from Fresno State as Hill threw seven shutout innings on Saturday before a three-run eighth by Indiana won the game and six scoreless on Sunday before she met a similar fate. Melloh was named the Big Ten's Pitcher of the Week for her efforts at Beard Field, the first wins by an opponent at the new ballpark.
MSU MID-WEEK SPLIT: The Nittany Lion softball team was powered to a first-game victory over Michigan State, 8-6, by a Cassidy Bell grand slam before dropping the second game, 7-6, at Secchia Stadium on a damp and cold Apr. 6 afternoon. The second game was called due to darkness after five innings despite a furious five-run Penn State rally. PSU trailed 3-1 in the opening game before a Bell gave the Lions a lead they'd never relinquish. The nightcap was a wild game as the matchup pushed up against the fading light as PSU stared a 6-1 deficit in the face. Home runs by Kailyn Johnson and Lauren Yao lifted the Nittany Lions into a tie before a fifth-inning homer gave the Spartans the lead again and the game was called following the inning's conclusion. Both Bell and Johnson went 4-for-7 with 4 RBI and two runs scored, while Alyssa Sovereign went 4-for-6 with two RBI.
All game recaps can be found in the game notes.
QUEEN OF THE HILL: The week of Mar. 31-Apr. 3 was historic for Jackie Hill and Penn State softball as the redshirt-senior set the new school record for career victories in dazzling performances against Pittsburgh and Illinois. Hill struck out a career-high 12 at Pitt in a 2-0 shutout victory to tie Missy Beseres (2002-06) at win No. 53, before downing 10 Illini in a 4-2 victory for win No. 54. Against Illinois she upped her career strikeout total to 600, moving her into second all-time behind Beseres (745) at Penn State. Currently, Hill sits at 57 victories and 637 strikeouts.
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.
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.
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.
PSULIONSOFTBALL ON TWITTER: Nittany Lion softball is now on Twitter. Keep up to date with inside information and exclusive access @PSULionSoftball.
--NITTANY LIONS--