April 2, 2015
| PENN STATE vs. WISCONSIN | |
| Friday, Apr. 3 - Saturday, Apr. 4, 2015 | |
| Goodman Diamond | Madison, Wisc. | |
| Live Video (BTN2Go) | Game 1 | Game 2 | Game 3 | |
| Live Stats | | | | |
| GAME DAY LINKS |
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Game Notes | Statistics (PSU) | B1G Stats
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- Winner of six of its last seven games, the Penn State softball team will look to continue its offensive hot streak as it travels to Madison this weekend for a three-game series against Wisconsin.
The Nittany Lions resume B1G play with a 19-16 overall record and 2-4 within the conference while the Badgers stand at 13-18 and 0-5 in the Big Ten, having lost six straight.
Live Stats for all three games will be available via CBS Gametracker on uwbadgers.com and each contest will be televised live online courtesy of subscription based BTN2Go.
GAME NOTES
QUICK HITS
· Penn State has won six of its last seven games entering this weekend's series with Wisconsin.
· The Lions have averaged a little more than eight runs and 11 hits per contest during that stretch of time.
· Alyssa VanDerveer has tied Macy Jones for the team lead in home runs with seven after her game tying grand slam in Game 1 of a doubleheader vs. Bucknell.
· Kristina Brackpool's first at-bat in three games was a pinch hit, bottom of the seventh walk off winning single to complete Penn State's improbable five run last at bat comeback over Bucknell.
· Freshman pitcher Jessica Cummings tossed a complete game two-hitter surrendering just one run vs. the Bison in Game 2 for her most solid outing of the season.
· The Nittany Lions are three games over .500 for the third time this season, and have won more games (19) than they have had since 2011, when they hit the 31-win plateau.
· PSU has exactly five wins at home and five on the road this season with nine coming at neutral sites.
SERIES HISTORY vs. WISCONSIN
Penn State holds a 27-18 (.600) all-time record against the Badgers dating back to the 1996 season. Despite its overall success over Wisconsin during the last two decades, UW has taken the last six from the Nittany Lions dating back to the 2012 season, including three game sweeps in Happy Valley in 2014 and another in Madison during the 2012 season. The last time the Lions beat the Badgers was in 2011 when PSU won the first two games ever played at Nittany Lion Softball Park and Beard Field, Mar. 26-27th.
SCOUTING THE BADGERS
Wisconsin comes into the weekend searching for its first win in B1G play this season as the Badgers stand at 0-5 having lost three games to Purdue and a pair to Northwestern. UW is 13-18 overall and has lost six straight, five of which were conference contests. Before their six game skid, the Badgers had won five in-a-row and six of seven.
The Badger offense is headlined by senior outfielder Maria Van Abel who leads the team in average (.378), hits (37) and runs (23). Sophomore Chloe Miller is tops in RBI (23), extra base hits (9) and tied for the team lead in walks (20), while Marissa Mersch and Katie Christner both share the top billing for long balls with one each.
In the circle, junior Taylor Paige-Stewart leads her staff in ERA (3.95), strikeouts (78) complete games (13), innings pitched (102.2), saves (2) and is tied for the team lead in wins with five. Freshman Mariah Watts also has a handful of victories for the Wisconsin pitching corps.
BOMBS AWAY
With her grand slam in game one vs. Bucknell, freshman Alyssa VanDerveer is now tied with Macy Jones for the team lead in home runs with seven. Vandy has the longest current hitting streak on the team, an eight gamer dating back to the Northwestern series.
CUTS LIKE A KNIEF
Junior Lexi Knief's ability to cut through opposing pitching this year has been remarkable. Despite missing four of the first five games of the season due to injury, she leads the team in batting average (.376), doubles (8), and her on base percentage of .442 is second to Macy Jones' .458 mark. The centerfielder is slugging an impressive .495 on the season, fourth most among her mates.
PUT ME IN COACH
Macy Jones is the only Nittany Lion to have started and played in all 35 games this season. She has split time in between the circle and the outfield and has even seen a little time at first base, making one start and nine relief appearances in the circle and 34 in the field. Freshmen Mollie Sorenson and Alyssa VanDerveer are the next closest iron women, as Sorenson has played in 34 of the 35 total contests in 2015, with 32 starts. VanDerveer has started and played in 33 contests as either the backstop or designated player with the exception of one game at first base.
LAYING DOWN THE LAW
Sophomore pitcher Marlaina Laubach leads her team in a number of different pitching categories including wins (9), strikeouts (56) and innings pitched (92.2). Her 3.10 ERA is second best on the team and she has already tied her career high for W's in a season. Laubach currently ranks ninth in the B1G in ERA and is tied for eighth in wins.
BACK TO THE FUTURE
The 2015 season is looking a lot like years from the past, that's because Penn State has now officially reeled off 19 wins in a season for the first time since 2011, when it compiled a 31-24-1 record during Nittany Lion Softball Park and Beard Field's first season. With just one more win, Amanda Lehotak's squad will have reached 20 wins in a season for the 26th time in program history, meaning PSU will have accomplished that milestone in almost half of its seasons in program history. The team won 20 in back-to-back years (2010-11) and for 14 straight seasons before that stretching from 1995-2008.
NEW NAMES AND NUMBERS
2015 brings with it a new year but also some new names and numbers to the 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.
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.
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 | Record | Pct. |
| Pat McTarsney | 1966 | 2-2 | .500 |
| Pat McTarsney | 1975 | 8-7 | .533 |
| Sue Rankin | 1983 | 25-13 | .658 |
| Robin Petrini | 1998 | 21-28-1 | .430 |
| Amanda Lehotak | 2015 | 19-16 | .543 |
* Pat McTarsney returned to coaching after a one year hiatus in 1973
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 instate 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.