| PENN STATE vs MICHIGAN | | | | 6-23 (2-4, B1G) | 28-7 (4-1, B1G) |
| Friday, April 6-Sunday, April 8 | Nittany Lion Softball Park and Beard Field University Park, Pa. | Tickets |
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April 5, 2018
PENN STATE SET FOR B1G SERIES WITH MICHIGAN
The Penn State softball team is set to host the University of Michigan for a three-game Big Ten Conference series Friday, April 6-Sunday, April 8. The Nittany Lions and the Wolverines will play at 6 p.m. Friday, April 6 before playing game two at 3 p.m. on Saturday, April 7 and finishing the series Sunday, April 8 at 1 p.m.
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 BTN Plus with a paid subscription.
LIMITED TICKETS AVAILABLE FOR SERIES WITH WOLVERINES
Fans are encouraged to arrive early to the general admission Nittany Lion Softball Park and Beard Field. Penn State softball will open the gates to Beard Field one and a half hours before the first pitch for this weekend series vs. Michigan. Gates will open at 4:30 p.m. on Friday, 1:30 p.m. on Saturday and 11:30 a.m. on Sunday. Seating will be on a first come, first serve basis. Once all seats have been filled, remaining tickets holders will be directed to the standing room only areas. Parking for the weekend series against Michigan and for all Penn State softball home games is located in Stadium West off of Park Avenue.
SERIES HISTORY WITH MICHIGAN
The University of Michigan dominates the series with the Nittany Lions, 67-7. Michigan has won the last 28 meetings between the two teams with Penn State's last victory coming in the 2007 season when it beat the then-No. 9 Wolverines 5-2 at the Judi Garman Classic. Furthermore, PSU defeated Michigan in 2005, 2-1, when the Wolverines went on to win the World Series. However, despite its recent losses, the Nittany Lions have been closing in on the Wolverines, falling 3-0 in its first meeting in the 2017 campaign.
SCOUTING THE WOLVERINES
Michigan is 28-7 heading into the conference series with Penn State. The Wolverines are hitting .313 as a team with Faith Canfield hitting an impressive .418 in the leadoff spot with a team-best 51 hits. Tera Blanco has also put up big numbers this season for Michigan with a team-high 31 RBI. Freshman Meghan Beaubien has already made a name for herself this season, starting 19 games and boasting a 20-2 record with a 0.78 ERA. Beaubien has pitched 125.1 innings with 151 strikeouts and given up just 53 hits this season.
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.
ON DECK
Penn State hits the road for a mid-week Big Ten Conference doubleheader with Ohio State Wednesday, April 11 at 5 p.m.
