Feb. 25, 2016
By ANNA PITINGOLO, GoPSUsports.com Student Staff Writer
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - After a slow opening weekend at the "Kick-Off Classic," the Lady Lions exploded for 33 runs a week later at the Dolphin Invite in Jacksonville, going 4-1 on the weekend.
The shift in momentum came from a more relaxed team that found a way to capitalize on runners in scoring position.
"[I saw] the ability to calm ourselves in pressure situations," head coach Amanda Lehotak said. "Our opening weekend, we had runners in scoring position and opportunities, but we were trying to be too big and win the game on one hit, where this weekend it was back to what we do well."
Leading the flurry of runs was starting catcher Alyssa VanDerveer, who had a team-high 6 RBIs. Lehotak wasn't seeing anything new from her, but rather she saw VanDerveer playing as if "she was back to her old self."
"Opening weekend, she had opportunities, but she was so big if you watched her swing," Lehotak said. "This weekend, to me, she really cut down her swing and did what she does well, which is shorten up and put the ball in play. When she stays within herself, stays balanced, she has a weekend like she did this past weekend."
VanDerveer credits not only her patience, but also the rest of the lineup for her impressive weekend. Batting at the bottom of the lineup has its perks when the rest of the team is getting on base.
"It helps having hitters earlier in the lineup getting on base and being able to move them in," VanDerveer said.
Senior Lexi Knief is hoping that the calmness and the ability to score runs that the team displayed in Jacksonville will carry over into Orlando.
"Mostly we were just staying really calm. The first weekend we went out there, I wouldn't say we had the jitters or anything, but we might have been pressing a little too much. But this weekend we just came back to practice, we stayed calm and we did what we normally do," Knief said.
Lehotak is looking for the momentum of four wins to carry over into the Citrus Classic in Orlando this weekend. With games against Yale, Fordham, Notre Dame and North Florida, Lehotak is up for the challenge of another tournament on the road.
Despite the successful weekend bringing the team back to .500 on the year, Lehotak knows that her team is not playing their best softball. And even so, she's okay with that.
"We're still not playing great ball, which I don't want us to play great ball yet," Lehotak said. "Pitching wise, we're still giving up way too many walks. Offensively, even though we went 4-1 this weekend, there are some things we would like to do better. Early in the game, we kind of got away from our plan when it wasn't going our way. I would like us to stay within our plan."
The Citrus Classic will be the last tournament for the Lady Lions in Florida. But with weather still hovering around freezing in Happy Valley, the team won't be able to take the field at Nittany Lions Softball Park anytime soon. They'll have a trip down to Mississippi over spring break before they can play on their home field on March 19th.