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BATON ROUGE, La.; Feb. 14, 2014 - The Penn State softball team travels to Louisiana for its second weekend of action at LSU's Tiger Invitational. The Nittany Lions will take on three different opponents in the two-day competition, including George Washington, Northwestern and No. 21 LSU.
PSU will open the tournament vs. George Washington on Sunday morning at 10 a.m. (ET) before taking on Northwestern in a non-conference matchup at 12:30 p.m. (ET). The Blue and White are set to match up against LSU in a doubleheader of Monday evening starting at 5 p.m. (ET).
TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE
Sun. 10 a.m. vs. George Washington
Sun. 12:30 p.m. vs. Northwestern
Mon. 5 p.m. at No. 21 LSU (DH)
Mon. 7 p.m. at No. 21 LSU (DH)
HOT START
Penn State has opened up the 2014 slate with a winning record for the first time since 2010. The Lions posted a 3-2 record in the opening weekend of action at the Kajikawa Classic in Tempe, Ariz.
PSU fell to Oregon State, 12-10, in the opener before taking back-to-back wins against Appalachian State (10-4) and Bradley (5-3). The Blue and White dropped a contest to No. 7 Arizona State, 9-1, but closed out the tournament on a high note, dominating Seattle in a 6-1 decision.
FORMING GOOD HABITZ
Sophomore Karlie Habitz came out of the gate swinging, literally, as she posted her first-ever grand slam in the season opener vs. Oregon State. The catcher drove in six runs before the game was over, which ties for the second most in program history, and tallied 10 RBIs on the weekend overall.
Her 10 RBIs stand as the most for any Big Ten player this season.
IN THE ZONE
Senior Alyssa Sovereign turned in a great performance at the plate in the opening weekend, going 8-for-18. She leads the squad with a batting average of .444 and her eight hits rank third in the Big Ten.
SCORING MACHINE
Sophomore Lexi Knief is atop the conference standings after crossing the plate 10 times in the first five games of the season.
The center fielder has already almost matched her total of 11 runs from last season.
LAU OF THE LAND
Freshman pitcher Marlaina Laubach looked like a seasoned veteran in her debut for the Lions, raking in two victories for Penn State at the Kajikawa Classic.
The Northampton, Pa. native gave up just two runs and nine hits in 10 innings for a team-best ERA of 1.40. She threw nine strikeouts on the weekend, including four in her first complete game at the collegiate level vs. Seattle last Sunday.
DOUBLING UP
Senior Kasie Hatfield is currently tied for first in the league in doubles, having already notched three this season.
WATCHING THE WILDCATS
The Wildcats enter the weekend at 3-1 on the season with their only loss coming to No. 22 Stanford in a 4-3 decision last Friday.
Sophomore Andrea Filler has been lighting it up for NU, posting a batting average of .778 through the first weekend of play. The infielder turned in a 7-for-9 effort at the plate with a triple, three RBIs and three runs en route to earning Big Ten Player of the Week honors.
Junior Amy Letourneau leads NU in the circle withn an ERA of 0.00 through 3.0 innings. Letourneau struck out seven opponents and allowed just two hits to help the Wildcats defeat New Mexico last Friday.
Senior Sammy Albanese has also done well in the circle for Northwestern. The pitcher has an ERA of 3.23 through 8.2 innings and has given up 10 hits.
TRACKING THE TIGERS
LSU opens up the weekend as the No. 21 team in the country. The Tigers sit at 4-2 on the season and have won four straight contests after falling to then-No. 10 Texas and Minnesota to start the season.
Sophomore Sandra Simmons is currently the top hitter for LSU with a batting average of .400. Simmons has gone 6-for-15 at the plate with one double, one triple, one homerun and six RBIs. She has also scored six runs in as many games.
Baylee Corbello leads the Tigers in the circle. The freshman has compiled an ERA of 0.50 through 14.0 innings and has pitched two complete games. She has earned 23 strikeouts and given up just three hits and one earned run.
CASING THE COLONIALS
George Washington enters the Tiger Invitational looking for its first win of the season. The Colonials are 0-5 on the year and have been shut out three times.
Setting the pace for GWU is freshman Jillian Galich. Galich leads the squad with a batting average of .429, connecting for three hits in seven at-bats and driving in two runs.
Paige Kovalsky and Meghan Rico are the top pitchers for the Colonials. Kovalsky has turned in a 3.38 ERA in 2.2 innings with three strikeouts while Rico has an ERA of 7.15 in 11.1 innings and 10 strikeouts.
ON DECK
Following the Tiger Invitational, the Blue and White will head to Boca Raton, Fla. to compete in the FAU Invitational. PSU will face three different teams in a three-day span, including two contests against No. 7 Kentucky and Florida Atlantic and one game vs. in-state rival Pitt.