Jan. 14, 2015
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - With the start of the 2015 season less than a month away, the Penn State softball team officially opened up spring practice with a number of tests, drills and agility exercises, Wednesday afternoon inside Holuba Hall.
The team began preparing for its upcoming 56 game season with a large focus on conditioning, defensive fundamentals as well as situational hitting. The Lions have not competed as a team since their fall slate which included games against regular season rivals Pittsburgh, Bucknell and St. Francis as well as first time foe Bellevue.
"Today is going to be all fundamental work, getting their feet back under them and making sure they are fundamentally sound," second year head coach Amanda Lehotak said. "Other practices are being designed right now for us to maintain a high focus for the full two hours, so that is really what I am looking for more than anything."
Tuesday's practice was the first of nearly two-dozen sessions for Lehotak's squad to get ready for their season opening tournament in Boca Raton, Fla., (Feb. 6-8). While in the Sunshine State, PSU will play a total of five schools in three days including Arkansas, LIU Brooklyn, Georgia Tech, Kansas and host Florida Atlantic.
The Lions continue their mid-winter road swing with trips to tournaments in Texas (Feb. 13-15), California (Mar. 12-15), and a return trip to Florida (Feb. 27-Mar. 1). They also play series with non-conference foes, Pacific in Stockton, Calif., (Mar. 10) and at Mississippi State (Feb. 21-22), before making their home debut, Wednesday, Mar. 18 vs. intrastate rival Pittsburgh.
For a full schedule of Nittany Lion softball games, both home and away, go to (http://bit.ly/KNOdl6) on the team's official GoPSUsport's webpage.