May 1, 2015
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -
By Miranda Kulp, GoPSUsports.com Student Staff Writer
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - Penn State's softball team is in Ann Arbor, Mich. to end the regular season by facing No. 3 Michigan this weekend. After a five-game winning streak, the Nittany Lions enter this series with a 28-24 overall record, including a 9-11 Big Ten record.
With the first pitch set for 5:30 p.m. on Friday, Penn State and Michigan will be facing off in a three-game series.
In the past the Lions trail the series 56-7 against the Wolverines, but this time Coach Lehotak and the team are coming in hungry for the fight.
So far this season, the Blue and White have been making an explosive presence at the plate with a total of seven grand slams so far.
In those seven grand slams, two were during the same inning on April, 1 against Bucknell. Penn State is the sixth team in record Division I NCAA softball history to hit a pair of grand slams in one inning.
Some players specifically who have been leading the pack at the plate are Alyssa VanDerveer with three grand slams, Kristina Brackpool with two, Shelby Miller and Reina Furuya who each have one grand slam of their own.
Another Lion who has made a name for herself offensively is junior Macy Jones. She's leading the team with 41 runs, 99 total bases and is batting at .639.
"The team is back to keeping it simple at the plate and we're much better when our mindset is simple rather than trying to hard to get big," said head coach Amanda Lehotak.
With their bats ready to go, Lehotak is ready to lead her squad into the weekend and are hoping to end the regular season on a high note by showing Michigan a good fight for the wins.
Scouting Michigan
Michigan enters its final home series with a 45-6 record, 18-2 in Big Ten play. The Wolverines carry a .336 batting average with a great presence at the plate. Sierra Romero leads the B1G with a .468 BA and runms scored with 66. Kelly Christner trails for second place with 62 runs. The pair tallies 17 homeruns each.
Megan Betsa leads the Wolverine at the mound with 22 wins and 244 strikeouts. Her ERA of 1.46 leads the conference. Fellow pitcher Haylie Wagner totals 101 strikeouts on the season.