Penn State Travels to Pitt on Tuesday

April 27, 2015

PENN STATE at PITTSBURGH
Tuesday, April 27, 2015 - 6 p.m.
Vartabedian Field | Pittsburgh, Pa.
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UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- The Penn State softball team begins the last week of the regular season with a mid-week matchup against the Pittsburgh Panthers on Tuesday. The game begins at 6 p.m at Vartabedian Field.

The Nittany Lions are now 27-24 overall, including 9-11 in Big Ten play, after a three-game sweep over Rutgers this past weekend. Penn State also split Wednesday's doubleheader with St. Francis(Pa.) last week. The Nittany Lions are 9-2 this season in mid-week contests, including a 3-1 win over Pitt earlier this season at Beard Field.

SERIES NOTES

SERIES HISTORY vs. PITT

The Nittany Lions lead the series 13-6 over the Panthers. On March 18, Penn State earned a 3-1 victory at home. Junior Macy Jones launched a two-run home run in the third inning to lead the blue and white. Junior Lexi Knief and sophomore Shelby Miller each had two hits. Marlaina Laubach had a great day in the circle, pitching a complete-game, while allowing six hits, one run, unearned, striking out six and walking two. Penn State is 3-2 in their last five games against Pitt.

 

SCOUTING THE PANTHERS

Pitt is 30-16 overall and 10-11 in the ACC this season. This past weekend, the Panthers went 1-2 against Virginia Tech. They fell 6-3 in 10 innings on Friday and 5-2 on Saturday, but bounced back to win 6-5 on Sunday.

 

Junior Shelby Pickett leads the Panthers offense with a .369 average, including 58 hits and 15 doubles. Pickett also has seven home runs and 35 RBI. Junior Jenna Modic is hitting .340 with five homers and 31 RBI, while freshman McKayla Taylor has a team-leading 12 home runs and 48 RBI, while batting .312. The Panthers have five players batting above .300.

 

Senior Savannah King is 17-7 with a 3.18 ERA in 30 appearances, including 26 starts and 13 complete games. She has struck out 76 batters and walked 62 in 141 innings. Freshman Kayla Harris has a 10-9 mark with a 3.90 ERA in 27 appearances, with 15 starts and seven complete games. Harris has 62 strikeouts and 50 walks in 116.2 innings.

 

QUICK HITS

• On Sunday, Penn State completed a sweep over Rutgers with a 4-3 walk-off win. It was Penn State's first three-game Big Ten sweep since April 4-6, 2014 at Michigan State and their first three-game Big Ten home sweep since April 28-29, 2012 against Minnesota.

• The Nittany Lions have hit 40 in a season for the first time since 2013. They have sent 44 over the fence. Shots by Macy Jones and Alyssa VanDerveer on Wednesday against St. Francis(Pa.) put Penn State over the 40 mark
• The power trio of Alyssa VanDerveer, Kristina Brackpool and Macy Jones have accounted for 32 of Penn State's 44 home runs this season, over 72 percent. VanDerveer leads the bunch with 13 while Jones has 10 and Brackpool has hit nine.
• This is the first time in program history that Penn State has had two players hit 10 or more home runs in the same season. Brackpool could add a third player to that mix with her next dinger.
• Macy Jones has the unique distinction of being the leader in at least one of her team's offensive and pitching categories as she is tops in Runs (41), total bases (98) and slugging percentage (.645). She also has the lowest earned run average among the pitching staff at 3.26 and walks allowed (19).

 

MILESTONE WATCH

Multiple Nittany Lions are chasing single-season records entering the final week of the regular season. Alyssa VanDerveer is currently third on the all-time single season home runs list at Penn State with 13. She is three behind Jennifer Tripken(2002) for second place and seven behind Cassidy Bell(2013) for first. With 10 dingers, Macy Jones is tied for fifth with Jen Acunto(2005). Jones, with 43 RBI, is also six away from the single season mark at Penn State, which is shared by Tripken and Nan Sichler(1988). Lexi Knief is seven hits away from the single season record, held by Sichler, and four doubles away from the record held by Acunto and Danielle Kinley(2007). Knief is currently batting .409, which would put her fourth all-time in single season average.

 

HOME SWEET HOME

With their win over Rutgers on Sunday, Penn State picked up its 11th home victory of the season. That is the most Nittany Lion home wins since Beard Field opened in 2011. The Nittany Lions have their most home wins in a season since earning 12 in 1999.

 

GRAND PRESENCE

The Nittany Lions have hit an impressive seven grand slams during the 2015 season. Two came in the doubleheader sweep of Bucknell (Apr. 1) and another pair followed in the same game and the same inning no less, the top of the fourth in the series finale vs. Wisconsin (Apr. 4). Kristina Brackpool hit her second grand slam of the season in a mid-week doubleheader with Ohio State (Apr. 15). Alyssa VanDerveer hit her third slam, a first inning blast, against Maryland (Apr. 18) In all four Blue & White batters have hit HR's with the sacks jacked this season. Below is a look at the official tally, when they were hit and who against.

 

Player                     No. Date(s)     Against

Alyssa VanDerveer  3   Apr. 1,3,&18 BU, UW, MD

Kristina Brackpool   2   Apr. 1&15 BU & OSU

Shelby Miller            1   Apr. 4       Wisconsin

Reina Furuya            1   Apr. 4       Wisconsin

 

HI2TORY IN GRAND FASHION

Staying with the grand slam theme, Penn State became just the sixth team in recorded Division I NCAA softball history to hit a pair of grand slams in one inning as it plated a total of nine runs in the top of the fourth during its 15-5 five inning mercy rule victory over Wisconsin, Apr. 4. Shelby Miller hit the first grannie with no one out and then Reina Furuya, who led off the inning with a double, came to the plate with just one out and already five in, in the inning and slammed another bases loaded homer to achieve the historic feat. The rare occasion has become less rare with each passing season as this is the third year in-a-row it's been accomplished, but the first time a team has done so in the fourth inning of play.

 

BTN SEASON DEBUT
The Nittany Lions will made their debut on the Big Ten Network during the series finale vs. Maryland on Sunday, April 19. It marked the first time since the 2013 regular season finale vs. Illinois that the Blue & White were on the national network.

MVP - MOST VERSATILE PLAYER

One could argue that Macy Jones is her team's most valuable player but there is no doubt that she is in fact Penn State's most versatile as she has starred in the field, circle and batter's box this season. Jones is the only member of the Blue & White pitching corps who yields the aluminum and she has done so quite successfully, ranking second on the team in on base percentage (.462) and first in slugging percentage (.645). Her 43 RBI is best on the squad and her 10 home runs are second to Alyssa VanDerveer(14). She also leads the pitching staff with a 3.26 ERA and has a team-low 19 walks in 18 appearances.

 

CUTS LIKE A KNIEF

Junior Lexi Knief's ability to cut through opposing pitching this year has been remarkable. She leads the team in batting average (.409), hits(67), doubles (14) and triples(3). The centerfielder is slugging an impressive .530 on the season, fourth most among her teammates, and leads the team with a .464 on-base percentage.

 

PUT ME IN COACH

Macy Jones is the only Nittany Lion to have started and played in all 51 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 four starts and 14 relief appearances in the circle and 47 starts in the field. Freshmen Mollie Sorenson and Alyssa VanDerveer are the next closest iron women, as Sorenson has played in 50 of 51 total contests in 2015, with 48 starts. VanDerveer has started and played in 49 contests as either the backstop or designated player with the exception of one game at first base.

 

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 23 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 its series win vs. Wisconsin, Amanda Lehotak's squad reached 20 wins in a season for the 26th time in program history. With their win on Friday against Rutgers, Penn State reached the 25-win mark for the 17th time in program history and the first time since 2011.

 

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

Robin Petrini             1998 21-28-1. 430

Amanda Lehotak     2015 27-24   .529

 

* Pat McTarsney returned to coaching after a one year hiatus in 1973

 

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.

 

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.