March 7, 2013
TAMPA, Fla.- Penn State softball wraps up its 2013 spring break trip at the South Florida Under Armour Showcase Friday through Sunday. The Nittany Lions (4-9, 0-0 Big Ten) begin the five-game tournament at 4:45 p.m. Friday against Loyola Marymount and will face Western Michigan, Toledo, Maine and South Carolina over the weekend.
All five Penn State contests will take place at the Eddie C. Moore Softball Complex in Clearwater, Fla. The full tournament schedule can be found here.
USF UNDER ARMOUR SHOWCASE SCHEDULE
Friday, 4:45 p.m. - Penn State vs. Loyola Marymount - - Field 8
Friday, 7 p.m. - Penn State vs. Western Michigan - - Field 9
Saturday, 4:45 p.m. - Toledo vs. Penn State - - Field 1
Saturday, 7 p.m. - Maine vs. Penn State - - Field 1
Sunday, 11:15 a.m. - South Carolina vs. Penn State - - Field 1
Loyola Marymount (7-10) closed the USF Under Armour Invitational 2-3 a weekend ago with wins over Providence and Quinnipiac before splitting midweek games with Toledo and Maine. Western Michigan (6-11) has won three of its last four, only dropping an 8-4 decision to No. 17/19 Kentucky. Becca Shemberger (3-5) leads the Broncos in the circle with a 3.42 ERA over 43.0 innings. Sabrina Gamboa has accounted for 14 of WMU's 36 RBI this season and she leads the team with three home runs while batting .255 (13-51).
Toledo (5-7) enters the tournament on a two-game winning streak after downing Loyola Marymount and Maine Wednesday afternoon by a combined 10-4 score. Maine (1-11) has lost its last 10 contests after opening the season with a win over N.C. Central.
South Carolina (12-3) is led by Samie Garcia, who is batting .547 (29-53) in 2013 with six doubles, five triples and 13 RBI while scoring 28 runs. The Gamecocks pitch by committee with four players with more than 16 innings thrown this season, led by Audrey Broyles (4-1).
Penn State split decisions with Central Michigan (L, 7-4) and Loyola (Chicago) (W, 11-7) during the week after finishing 0-4 at the Citrus Classic March 2-3. Freshman Karlie Habitz (Newhall, Calif.) and senior Cassidy Bell (Bakersfield, Calif.) have both put up seven RBI over the six-game trip, while junior Jordan Wheatley (Troy, Mich.) is 1-1 with a 4.67 ERA over 15.0 innings in the same span. Senior Rachel Myers earned her first career save in the victory over the Ramblers Wednesday. Six Nittany Lions are hitting over .275 in Florida, including Bell (.474), freshman Taylor Abeyta (.429) (San Diego, Calif.), sophomore Lauren Anderson (.333) (Valencia, Calif.), Habitz (.313), senior Lauren Yao (.294) (Los Angeles, Calif.) and junior Kasie Hatfield (.286) (Tampa, Fla.).