May 6, 2015
| PENN STATE vs. MARYLAND | |
| Thursday, May 7, 2015 - Big Ten Tournament | |
| Buckeye Field| Columbus, Ohio | |
| Live Stats | BTNPlus | Tournament Central | |
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UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- The Penn State softball team takes on the Maryland Terrapins on Thursday in the First Round of the Big Ten Tournament. The Nittany Lions, the ninth seed, meet the Terrapins, the eighth seed, at 2:30 p.m. The game will be televised on BTN plus.
Penn State, led by Head Coach Amanda Lehotak, enters the Big Ten Tournament with a 28-27 overall record, including 9-14 in conference play.Â
The Nittany Lions get a rematch with the Terrapins after dropping three close games against them April 17-19. The winner of Thursday's game will meet the top seed, Michigan, on Friday at 2:30 p.m. on BTN.
SERIES NOTES
SERIES HISTORY vs. MARYLAND
Penn State and Maryland have met for a total of 14 times previously dating back to the 1999 season, with the Nittany Lions owning a 9-5 overall record over the Terps. The teams met earlier this season, with the Terrapins winning three close games. Macy Jones and Alyssa VanDerveer each hit home runs in that series, including VanDerveer's grand slam in the second game. Jones and Lexi Knief each had two doubles.Â
SCOUTING THE TERRAPINS
Maryland enters the Big Ten Tournament with a 27-26 overall record, including 9-14 in the Big Ten. The Terrapins went 1-2 last weekend against Michigan State, winning the second game 6-5, but dropping the first and third games by 4-3 and 7-4 decisions, respectively. Maryland has lost seven of their last eight games.Â
Senior Outfielder Erin Pronobis leads the squad with a .370 average as one of five players with a .300 or better average. She has 57 hits, 12 home runs and 44 RBI, while playing in all 53 games. Junior Lindsey Schmeiser is batting .364 with a team-leading 60 hits, including 20 doubles and 11 homers, while driving in 42 runs. Sophomore Hannah Dewey has a .358 average, while junior Corey Schwartz is batting .320 and senior Shannon Bustillos is hitting .300. Schwartz has 14 homers, while Bustillos has 11.
Senior right hander Kaitlyn Schmeiser leads the Terrapins in the circle. Schmeiser is 19-11 with a 3.37 ERA in 47 appearances, including 28 starts and nine complete games. She has struck out 170 batters and walked 36 in 201.2 innings. Schmeiser also has five saves. Dewey, a lefty, is 6-11 with a 5.88 ERA in 36 appearances, including 18 starts and a complete game. She has 57 strikeouts and 78 walks in 100 innings.
QUICK HITS
- The Nittany Lions are the ninth seed in the Big Ten Tournament, taking on the eighth seeded Terrapins. The winner will advance to Friday's quarterfinal matchup against top-seed Michigan.Â
- With 28 wins this season, the Nittany Lions are two away from the 12th 30-win season in program history.
- The Nittany Lions have hit 40 in a season for the first time since 2013. They have sent 45 over the fence. Shots by Macy Jones and Alyssa VanDerveer on April 22 against St. Francis(Pa.) put Penn State over the 40 mark.
- VanDerveer leads the team with 13 homers while Kristina Brackpool and Jones have 10. This is the first time in program history that Penn State has had three players hit 10 or more home runs in the same season.Â
- 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 (42) and total bases (99). Jones also has a team-leading 23 RBI in Big Ten play. She also has the lowest earned run average among the pitching staff at 3.66 and walks allowed (21).
FACES IN THE CROWD
Reina Furuya and Shelby Miller were featured in Sports Illustrated's "Faces In the Crowd" section of their May 4, 2015 issue for their grand slams in the top of the fourth inning in Penn State's 15-5 win against Wisconsin on April 4. Miller hit the first slam with no one out and then 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. Penn State became just the sixth team in recorded Division I NCAA softball history to hit a pair of grand slams in one inning.Â
ALL-BIG TEN HONORS
Junior outfielders Lexi Knief and Macy Jones were selected as Second Team All-Big Ten on Wednesday by the conference's coaches. Knief earned her second straight All-Big Ten selection after leading the team in batting average(.408), hits(71), doubles(14), triples(4), and on-base percentage(.469). Jones is hitting .348, including .373 in Big Ten play, with 56 hits, including nine doubles, two triples and 10 homers with 43 RBI. Sophomore third baseman Shelby Miller was named to the All-Defensive Team.Â
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 each, Kristina Brackpool and Macy Jones are tied for fifth with Jen Acunto(2005). Brackpool, with 44 RBI, is also five away from the single season mark at Penn State, which is shared by Tripken and Nan Sichler(1988). Lexi Knief is three hits away from the single season record, held by Sichler(74), and four doubles away from the record held by Acunto and Danielle Kinley(2007). Knief is currently batting .408, which would put her fourth all-time in single season average.Â
BUILDING THE PROGRAM
With 28 wins this year, the Nittany Lions have their most since 2011. Penn State's nine conference wins are also their most since 2012 and the ninth seed in the Big Ten Tournament is their highest since 2007.Â
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). Below is a look at the official tally, when they were hit and who against.
Player                    No. Date(s)    Against
Alyssa VanDerveer 3Â Â Â Apr. 1,3,&18Â BU, UW, MD
Kristina Brackpool  2   Apr. 1&15 BU & OSU
Shelby Miller          1   Apr. 4      Wisconsin
Reina Furuya         1   Apr. 4      Wisconsin
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 (.451) and second in slugging percentage (.615). Her 43 RBI is second on the squad to Kristina Brackpool(44) and her 10 home runs are tied for second to Alyssa VanDerveer(13). She also leads the pitching staff with a 3.66 ERA and has a team-low 21 walks in 20 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 (.408), hits(71), doubles (14) and triples(4). The centerfielder is slugging an impressive .534 on the season, fourth most among her teammates, and leads the team with a .469 on-base percentage.
PUT ME IN COACH
Macy Jones is the only Nittany Lion to have started and played in all 55 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 16 relief appearances in the circle and 51 starts in the field. Freshmen Mollie Sorenson and Alyssa VanDerveer are the next closest iron women, as Sorenson has played in 54 of 55 total contests in 2015, with 52 starts. VanDerveer has started and played in 53 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 28-27   .509
* 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.