March 3, 2016
By ANNA PITINGOLO, GoPSUsports.com Student Staff Writer
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa - The Nittany Lions hit the road for one final tournament this weekend, as they head down to Oxford, Miss. to play in the Red and Blue Classic.
The trip will be the fourth weekend in a row that Penn State travels well outside of State College. All that travel can take a toll on a player's body, but the team is doing all that they can to stay fresh between games.
"It's pretty exhausting at times, but [I've] done it for four years now so I'm kind of used to it in a way and I can expect it," said senior Reina Furuya. "It's a lot of time management in terms of academics, working out, getting your recovery in and all that."
Fellow senior Christy Von Pusch agreed, joking that "it's so much fun to travel in and out of State College." The pitcher also noted that while it may not be as difficult for the seniors, the underclassmen were in for a surprise.
"Honestly, it's my fourth year so I'm used to it but I think that it's definitely shocked some of the underclassmen," Von Pusch said. "It's always rough, no matter how much you do it. Coming back to school and only being here for four days and then having another 12-hour travel day is exhausting, but I think our team has done a really good job of pushing through it and trying to stick to our game plan and doing what we do best."
With six games coming up on this trip (the team will also travel to Starkville, Miss. to face Mississippi State after the tournament), head coach Amanda Lehotak is ready to give her team a well-deserved break once they return home.
"We're going to get back Wednesday and give them a couple of days off and fire up for our home series against Hofstra," Lehotak said. "I know I'm a minority, probably, amongst coaches, but I actually thoroughly believe in rest, and we're kind of beat up, so I'm looking forward to the kids staying home, watching TV, sleeping in their own beds and getting ready for the second half of their season."
With the road trip being a little longer than usual, the team will use the upcoming spring break to their advantage. Those extra days on the road will give their bodies a break from the normal wear and tear.
"We have a few extra days but it's spring break so it won't be too bad," Furuya said. "We'll do extra reps when we can, but it's also a recovery time for us, so overall it won't be that different for us than usual."
Throughout the first couple of weeks, Lehotak has been pleasantly surprised with how well her pitching staff has been performing. With a combined 2.77 ERA amongst the six pitchers, Lehotak has high hopes for the rest of the season.
"They have done a phenomenal job managing the games," Lehotak said. "It's been really fun to watch the growth of Von Pusch coming on her senior year. To see the maturity of Marley [Laubach], she's really starting to shut it down and she's finally embraced who she is as a pitcher. [Madison] Shaffer and [Madison] Seifert are doing a good enough job as freshman. So I think our pitching staff has been a much-wanted surprise and they've been great."
Von Pusch credits the internal rivalry amongst the pitchers, who are all fighting for that starting position, as a big reason they are doing so well in the circle.
"Everyone wants that starting spot, even though we are pitching as a staff and we have that mentality, so I think that us fighting, it's sort of a competition within us and that is making us all great," Von Pusch said. "We're still able to pitch as a team going into games so that's definitely been one of our strongest aspects this year."
As the Nittany Lions head down South one final time, Furuya said the team is looking to get to the point where they can click on all cylinders before conference play starts up at the end of March.
"We're just still trying to find the groove. We haven't really been strong in all assets at the same time so we're still working to find that momentum and go into Big Ten with a good feel."