| PENN STATE at BIG TEN / ACC CHALLENGE | | | 1-4-0 (0-0-0 B1G) |
| Friday, Feb. 17 - Sunday, Feb. 19 | Mewborn Field Atlanta, Ga. | |
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Feb. 16, 2017
PENN STATE SET FOR BIG TEN / ACC CHALLENGE
The Nittany Lions will make their way to Atlanta, Georgia Friday, Feb. 17-Sunday, Feb. 19 for the second annual Big Ten / ACC Challenge. Penn State will take on both Georgia Tech and Virginia Tech in the challenge with two games against each institution. The Blue and White will first take on host Georgia Tech Friday, Feb. 17 at 3 p.m.
PREVIEWING THE BIG TEN / ACC CHALLENGE
The annual event, which debuted last season, will feature eight schools from each conference, playing four games at four campus sites over the course of the three-day period. Penn State will take on host Georgia Tech and Virginia Tech two times each with one game on Friday, two games on Saturday and one game on Sunday to close out the tournament. Last season, the Big Ten posted a 20-12 record in the inaugural challenge with all eight participating schools picking up at least one win. Penn State and Iowa will represent the Big Ten in Atlanta, while Nebraska and Northwestern will pair up at Florida State, Minnesota and Michigan will compete at North Carolina State and Purdue and Ohio State will participate at North Carolina.
SCOUTING GEORGIA TECH
Georgia Tech picked up its first win of the season Wednesday, Feb. 15 with a victory over Georgia State on the road. The Ramblin' Wreck will play their first games at home this season after playing five games at the Puerto Rico Tournament in opening weekend where they were unable to come back with a win.
Georgia Tech is hitting .262 as a team with three student-athletes hitting .300 or better to start the season. Jessica Kowalewicz paces the team with a .429 batting average that includes two home runs and four RBI, while Samantha Pierannunzi is hitting .412 with three homers and five RBI in the first six games of the season. The Ramblin' Wreck have had powerful bats to start 2017, launching nine round trippers to ranks No. 45 in the nation with 0.80 per contest.
Georgia Tech has used a trio of pitchers in its first three games with Jenna Goodrich making four appearances and throwing a team-high 18.2 innings. Goodrich carries a team-low 4.12 ERA, giving up 11 earned runs, while Brooke Barfield has tossed 17.0 innings and given up 21 earned runs for an 8.65 ERA in three starts. Finally, Emily Anderson has thrown 4.1 innings and carries a 4.85 ERA for the Ramblin' Wreck.
SCOUTING VIRGINIA TECH
The Hokies had a successful trip out to Las Vegas, returning with a 3-1 record to start the 2017 campaign, highlighted by wins over Indiana State, Southern Utah and CSU Bakersfield.
Virginia Tech hit .280 as a team in the first weekend of the season with Aysha Richardsoon recording a team high .500 batting average, while Olivia Lattin tallied six hits, including four doubles in the opening weekend with four RBI. Also hitting .400 or better were Jessie Mehr and Emma Strouth, who hit .455 and .400 respectively. As a team, the Hokies totaled 30 hits, nine of which were doubles and two homers, while bringing in 19 runs.
Carrie Eberle started picked up two victories with two starts in the circle, tossing 12.2 innings. Eberle gave up 13 hits and allowed three earned runs to score for a 1.66 ERA in her first outings of the season. Chelsea Whitcomb also made two starts in the circle, throwing 5.2 innings with a 6.18 ERA, while Taylor Barnes came on in relief three times and gave up just five hits in five innings of work.
PENN STATE UPSETS NO. 4 LSU
After falling in its first game of the season, the Nittany Lions came back later that night to upset the No. 4 team in the nation with a 7-3 victory over LSU Friday, Feb. 10. The win over the top-ranked Tigers marked the first time that Penn State has defeated a top five team since it took a 1-0 victory over then-No. 1 Michigan, Feb. 18, 2006.
The Blue and White fell behind 1-0 in the bottom of the third back but answered with two straight multi-run innings, including a five-run third inning that chased freshman starter Maribeth Gorsuch out of the game. The Tigers brought in ace Carley Hoover to shut down the Penn State offense, however, Shelby Miller launched the first homer of the 2017 season for the Nittany Lions over the center field fence.
Sophomore Madison Seifert got the start in the circle, throwing all seven innings and keeping the powerful LSU offense to just six hits and three runs, while striking out three.
FRESHMAN MAKE IMPACT IN OPENING WEEKEND
Four freshman made appearances in the lineup during opening weekend for head coach Amanda Lehotak. Delaney Elling started all five games behind the plate and finished the weekend with a .308 batting average, tallying four hits, including one multi-hit game in her first weekend donning the Blue and White. Destiny Weber notched three starts as the designated players, while Christa Wagner started one game in the designated player slot and pinch hit twice for the Nittany Lions. Finally, Amanda Ferlisi came in twice as a pinch hitter for Penn State in opening weekend.
TRAVELING NITTANY LIONS
Penn State softball will hit the road for 35 of its 52 games, traveling a whopping 12,765 miles in the 2017 season. The Nittany Lions first travel to Baton Rouge, Louisiana. for the LSU Tournament before heading to Atlanta, Georgia for its first appearance in the Big Ten/ACC Challenge. The Blue and White close out the month of February in Conway, South Carolina for the Chanticleer Showdown and open the month of March at the Colorado State Classic. Penn State continues its five weeks of travel in Washington with a doubleheader against Seattle and two games in the Husky Classic. Following a short four-game home stint, the Nittany Lions go back on the road to Michigan and Pittsburgh and also make trips out to Michigan State, Nebraska and Maryland in the 2017 campaign.
NITTANY LIONS COMING OFF HUGE 2016 SEASON
Lehotak led Penn State to its most successful season since the 2011 campaign with a 30-24 overall record and a fourth-place 14-9 record in the Big Ten Conference, breaking three offensive records in the process. The 2016 Nittany Lions posted a record-breaking .314 batting average with 468 hits that included 75 doubles. The Blue and White got off to its best start in conference action in the history of the program with an 11-3 record before winning a program-best five conference series and sweeping three B1G series in 2016. Penn State carried an 11-game win streak at Nittany Lion Softball Park and Beard Field, sweeping two conference series at home. The Blue and White secured 14 wins in 2016, which ranks second in program history and earned 10 wins for just the eighth time in program history. Furthermore, the Nittany Lions reached its 10 conference victories in fewer games than any other team as it took just 13 conference contests. The Nittany Lion offense had 23 games with 10-or-more hits and scored 10-or-more runs on nine occasions. After the conclusion of conference play, the Blue and White paced the conference with 457 hits, while ranking third with a .317 batting average and a .969 fielding percentage.
PSU TO PLAY 17 HOME CONTESTS IN 2017
The Nittany Lions will play 17 of its 52 scheduled games in the friendly confines of the Nittany Lions Softball Park and Beard Field. Last season, Penn State played 20 regular season games at Beard Field, posting an 14-9 overall record. The Blue and White also hosted the Big Ten Softball Tournament for the first time in school history where it picked up a win over Nebraska and fell in the semifinals to Michigan. Penn State has posted a 54-51-1 overall record at Beard Field in its six year existence which is good for a .514 winning percentage.
CONFERENCE TOUR
Penn State will see a slew of representatives from several different conferences this season, taking on teams from 16 different leagues in 2017. The Nittany Lions will take on teams from the Atlantic Coast Conference (Georgia Tech, Pitt, Virginia Tech), Big Sky Conference (Idaho State), Big South Conference (Campbell), Big 12 (Oklahoma State), Horizon League (Cleveland State), Mid-American Conference (Buffalo), Mountain West Conference (Colorado State), Northeast Conference (Robert Morris, Saint Francis), Ohio Valley Conference (Morehead State), Pac 12 (Washington), Patriot League (Bucknell), Southeastern Conference (LSU), Southland Conference (McNeese State State), Summit League (South Dakota), Sun Belt Conference (Coastal Carolina) and Western Athletic Conference (Seattle).
ABRAMS JOINS COACHING STAFF IN 2017
Jennifer Abrams comes to Happy Valley after assisting the Seton Hall Pirates for three seasons and will serve as the Penn State's hitting coach as well as work with catchers, make travel arrangements and manage camps.
S erving as the Seton Hall hitting coach for three seasons, Abrams improved eight hitting categories for the Pirates including helping the 2015 Big East Rookie of the Year to finish 20th nationally with 20 home runs in 2015. Most notably, Abrams increased the team's home runs from 27 in 2014 to 60 in 2015, while increasing slugging percentage from .378 to .459 and RBI from 140 to 231. Abrams coached four First Team All-Big East honorees, two Second Team All-Big East honorees and one Big East Rookie of the Year in her three seasons as the hitting coach at Seton Hall. Furthermore, Abrams helped with the outfielders, devising individualized skill workouts.
13 NITTANY LIONS EARNS ACADEMIC ALL-BIG TEN HONORS IN 2016
The Penn State softball team had 13 student-athletes receive spring Academic All-Big Ten accolades following the 2016 winter semester. The honorees include: Gianna Arrizurieta, Jessica Cummings, Reina Furuya, Shannon Good, Macy Jones, Lexi Knief, Marlaina Laubach, Shelby Miller, Erin Pond, Sam Shanahan, Mollie Sorenson, Maegan Tupinio and Christy Von Pusch. To be eligible for Academic All-Big Ten selection, student-athletes must be letterwinners who are in at least their second academic year at their institution and carry a cumulative grade point average of 3.0 or higher.
ON DECK
The Nittany Lions continue life on the road as they travel to Conway, South Carolina for the Chanticleer Classic. Penn State will play four games Saturday, Feb. 25-Sunday, Feb. 26 with a game against Coastal Carolina and Campbell on Friday and games against Cleveland State and Morehead State on Sunday.
