Feb. 11, 2015
| PENN STATE @AGGIE CLASSIC | |
| Friday, Feb. 13 - Sunday, Feb. 15 | |
| Aggie Softball Complex| College Station, Texas | |
| GAME DAY LINKS |
TV: ESPN2 -->Tournament Event Page | Softball BlogFollow Us: @PennStateSB | Facebook | InstagramGameday Central
Game Notes | Statistics
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - After getting off to its first 3-0 start in 18 years, the Penn State softball team will look to get back onto the left side of the win column this weekend as they travel to the Lone Star State to take part in the Aggie Classic, hosted by Texas A&M in College Station.
The Nittany Lions (3-2) will take on Missouri State and then the Aggies on both Friday and Saturday, Feb. 13-14 followed by a Sunday morning date with Eastern Michigan to close out the tournament.
Both games with A&M will be televised on the SEC Network and will take place at 4:05 p.m. on Friday and then 6:15 p.m. , Saturday. Live stats will be available for each PSU game on tournament's official event page and as always fans can follow along via the team's Twitter page @PennStateSB.
SERIES NOTES
HERE'S TO GREAT BEGINNINGS
Last weekend in Boca Raton at the FAU Kick-Off Tournament, the Penn State softball team got off to it's best start in 18 years. The team went 3-0 for the first time since 1997, defeating Arkansas, LIU Brooklyn and Georgia Tech, before dropping its final two against Kansas and host Florida Atlantic. In 2014, the team also was 3-2 after its first five games but lost their first and fourth games while winning their second third and fifth inbetween against Appalachian State, Bradley and Seattle U.
BRACKPOOL'S BOMBS
Sophomore first baseman Kristina Brackpool has two home runs in her first five games and is on pace for 22 this season. Last year she only hit two dingers the entire 49 game season, so she has already equaled her career high and will be looking to set a new career mark this weekend in Texas.
FRESHMEN FAST STARTS
Penn State freshmen have started off their first season in the Blue and White on the right foot as a number of them got off to hot starts this past weekend in the Sunshine State. DP/C Alyssa VanDerveer is in a tie for the team lead in RBI with four as her three run double vs. LIU Brooklyn and her solo home run vs. Georgia Tech helped to get her to that spot.
WELCOME BACK PARTNER
This will be the first time in 11 years that the Penn State Softball team will play an early season tournament in the Lone Star State as the last time the Nittany Lions were in a Texas tourney was back in 2004 at the Aggie Invitational II, where they went a combined 1-4 against opponents, Oregon, Southern Miss and the host Aggies.
SHE'S A LEGEND
This weekend will also mark the return of former Aggie Megan Gibson to her Alma mater. Gibson, who played in College Station from 2005-08 was recently inducted into her school's athletic Hall of Fame (http://bit.ly/1KIKVYi). While at A&M, she amassed some very gaudy numbers, including six career school records. She has had the most doubles (48), home runs (56), RBI (183), total bases (447), walks (172) and had the highest slugging percentage (.717). She also ranks in the program's top 10 in seven other categories.
OLD STOMPING GROUNDS
Head coach Amanda Lehotak also has Texas ties as she was the head coach at UTSA from 2012-13 and led the Roadrunners' to just their second winning season in seven years.
TRAVEL TESTED
Penn State will play its first 24 games on the road before the weather warms up and it's able to play the season's first games at Nittany Lion Softball Park at beard Field. Last season the Lions were 6-15 through their first 21 games on the road, featuring stops in Arizona, Mississippi, Florida and Virginia before returning to Happy Valley.
NEW NAMES AND NUMBERS
2015 brings with it a new season but also some new names and numbers to the Penn State program. This season a half-dozen freshman litter the Lion lineup and roster as Jessica Cummings (#1), Mia Monopoli (#13), Rebecca Ziegler (#15), Gianna Arrizurieta (#21), Mollie Sorenson (#22) and Alyssa VanDerveer will all call Happy Valley home for the first time. Junior transfer Erin Pond (#2) also makes her debut in the Blue and White.
SOPHOMORE SEASON
Although it's been a while since head coach Amanda Lehotak was a sophomore playing at Ole' Miss, she enters her sophomore season on the bench as the leader of the PSU program. In her first season the Lions went 14-35 with a 5-18 B1G mark. Here's a look at how second year coaches have fared at Penn State over the years.
Coach Year Rec. Pct.
Pat McTarsney 1966 2-2 .500
Pat McTarsney 1975 8-7 .533
Sue Rankin 1983 25-13 .658
Rob Petrini 1998 21-28-1 .430
Amanda Lehotak 2015 3-2 .600
* Pat McTarsney returned to coaching after a one year hiatus in 1973.
ROUGH ROAD
Penn State's 2015 schedule is a challenging one, with 56 games on the slate against opponents in conferences such as the SEC, ACC and the Big 12. The Lions will take on a total of four teams (Michigan, Georgia, Texas A&M and Missouri in the Pre-Season Top 25 as well as another four (Wisconsin, Mississippi State, James Madison, Northwestern) who are receiving votes in both the USA Today/NFCA and the ESPN/USA Softball Top 25 polls.
NATIONAL PROGRAM
This season the Lions boast a total of 18 players from states other than the Commonwealth. Two from Hawaii, one from Washington and five from California dot the western edge of the States, while four from N.Y. and N.J. join other ones from Maryland, Ohio, Virginia and Florida to make-up the eastern part of the country. Three Pennsylvanians (Marlaina Laubach, Christy Von Pusch and Mary Ward) bring some in-state pride to the program while, one from Arizona and another from Texas add unique flair to an already diverse group.
A HALF CENTURY OF TRADITION
Penn State softball is celebrating its 50th anniversary in 2015, making it the oldest program among the schools in the power five conferences (ACC, B1G, Big 12, Pac-12, SEC). The Lions started up in 1965 under head coach Pat McTarsney and went 2-2 in their first season with wins against Elizabethtown and Wilson colleges. PSU defeated both in-state schools by a combined 46-4 score. The second oldest program among the power five is Arizona State, which began play just two years later in 1967.