April 2, 2018
| PENN STATE vs. PITT | | | | 6-23 (2-4, B1G) | 19-13-1 (8-3 ACC) |
| Tuesday, April 3 | Nittany Lion Softball Park and Beard Field University Park, Pa. | Tickets |
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PENN STATE READY FOR PITTSBURGH
The Penn State softball team will play a single mid-week non-conference contest against Pittsburgh Tuesday, April 3. The Nittany Lions and the Panthers square off at 6 p.m. at Nittany Lion Softball Park and Beard Field.
CATCHING THE GAMES FROM HOME
Fans who cannot come out to Nittany Lion Softball Park and Beard Field can catch all the action live by following along with live Twitter updates @PennStateSB while also following live stats at GoPSUsports.com and watching live on LionVision.
SERIES HISTORY WITH PITTSBURGH
Penn State's meeting with Pittsburgh on Tuesday night will mark the 20th between the two programs with the Nittany Lions holding the 13-6 all-time advantage. In its single game meeting last season, Pitt took the 7-1 victory in its home city, while Penn State earned a 7-2 win over the Panthers in the 2016 campaign in Jacksonville, Florida. In the 2017 meeting, Tori Dubois and Delaney Elling each tallied hits for the Blue and White and Madey Smith pitched 2.0 innings, while Jessica Cummings threw 1.1 to close out the game.
SCOUTING THE PANTHERS
Pittsburgh is 19-13-1 overall on the season and has an 8-3 record in ACC play. As a team, the Panthers are hitting .256 on the season with Giorgiana Zeremenko leading the team as the lone hitter over .300 with a .356 batting average. Zeremenko has 36 hits on the season including nine doubles and 11 home runs, while driving in 19 RBI for the Panthers. Four pitchers have made at least 10 appearances this season for Pittsburgh with Kayla Harris holding a team-low 2.14 ERA in 78.2 innings of work.
COMMON OPPONENTS
The Panthers and Penn State have played three common opponents this season in Duke, Rutgers, and Virginia Tech. Pittsburgh won its three-game series with Duke, taking two wins and also swept Virginia Tech as the final game of the series was cancelled. Finally, Pitt split with Rutgers in its two meetings.
POLK PERFECTION
Junior Toni Polk put together a perfect plate performance in game three of the Big Ten Conference series against Rutgers, going 4-for-4. The junior outfielder notched two singles and two doubles and drove in one run in the final game against the Scarlet Knights. Polk's performance allowed her to take a team-high .305 batting average and a team-best 29 hits.
BIG HITS AGAINST SCARLET KNIGHTS
The Penn State softball team capped off the weekend series with a 7-3 victory over Rutgers. The Nittany Lions tallied a season-high 16 hits, scoring seven runs and committing just one error in the field. Junior Toni Polk had a perfect day at the plate going 4-for-4 with one RBI. Junior Meghan Williams also had a big day at the dish for the Blue and White, going 3-for-4. Juniors Tori Dubois and Paige Johnson had two hits and two RBI on the day and sophomore Destiny Weber had two hits and one RBI. Dubois and Weber both had home runs for the Nittany Lions with Dubois hitting her third in four games and Weber ripping her first of the season.
FLASHING THE LEATHER
The Nittany Lion defense came up with some B1G defensive plays at Rutgers, despite falling in two games. Sophomore Destiny Weber made two stellar plays on the hot corner with a diving play and a line drive catch. Also making a huge catch with runners on base was sophomore Delaney Elling, who dove for a ball in no-man's land to prevent a run from scoring.
FINDING THE LONG BALL
Penn State went into the weekend with six home runs on the season and came out with 10 as three different players hit a round-tripper against the Scarlet Knights. Junior Tori Dubois notched three home runs on the week with a game-winning grand slam against Robert Morris before following it up with two home runs against Rutgers. Sophomores Kennedy Legg and Destiny Weber hit their first career home runs at Rutgers with Legg going yard in game two and Weber finding her round-tripper in game three of the series. In all, six Penn State players have hit a home run this season with Dubois having a team-best four homers and Paige Johnson hitting two.
DUBOIS ROPES GRAND SLAM AGAINST ROBERT MORRIS
Junior Tori Dubois blasted a grand slam against Robert Morris to propel Penn State to an 8-7 lead in the bottom of the fifth inning, marking the second time this season in which she has knocked in the game-winning run. Dubois hit a walk-off single into right field against Kent State to give Penn State its first home win of the 2018 season. Dubois's grand slam marked the first for the Nittany Lions since the 2017 campaign when Delaney Elling laced a shot against Iowa State, March 4.
COMEBACK KIDS
Penn State has had to work for each of its wins this season, coming back late in the contest from a large deficit to pick up its victories. Penn State came back from a 3-0 deficit against Maryland to pick up the 4-3 victory before going on to score six runs in the bottom of the fifth inning against Robert Morris to take the 9-7 win after trailing 7-0 through the first four and a half innings.
FEY POISED FOR BREAKOUT FRESHMAN SEASON
Freshman Dani Fey has been standout at the plate for the Nittany Lions since moving into the leadoff spot in the batting order in the third week of the season. Fey hit .385 in Jacksonville, Florida and carried a .556 on-base percentage, drawing four walks, while also holding a .385 slugging percentage. The freshman outfielder tallied five hits while scoring a team-high five times for the Blue and White in its five games at the JU Tournament. Since then, Fey has maintained the leadoff spot for the Nittany Lions, hitting .387 when she is the first batter of the inning. The Bangor, Pennsylvania native ranks third in the Big Ten Conference in walks with 20 and carries a .440 on-base percentage, which ranks 12th in the conference.
LEHOTAK TALLIES WIN NO. 100 AT PENN STATE
With Penn State's series opening win over Maryland, head coach Amanda Lehotak picked up her 100th win at Penn State. Furthermore, the win marked the 289th career win for the Lehotak. Lehotak is in her fifth season with the Nittany Lions, leading Penn State to a Big Ten Tournament quarterfinal appearance in 2017 and a semifinal appearance in 2016. Under Lehotak's tenure, the Blue and White had its most successful season in 2016 since 2011, winning 30 games and finishing fourth in the Big Ten Conference. The team has also broken multiple hitting and pitching records in her five seasons with the Nittany Lions.
ON DECK
Penn State continues its short home stretch Friday, April 6-Sunday, April 8 when No. 17 Michigan comes to town for a three-game Big Ten Conference series. The Nittany Lions will play a 6 p.m. game Friday before playing at 3 p.m. on Saturday and capping off the series with a 1 p.m. game on Sunday. Gates will open an hour and a half early for all three games of the series.
