Penn State Welcomes No. 25 Wisconsin to Beard Field for Weekend SeriesPenn State Welcomes No. 25 Wisconsin to Beard Field for Weekend Series
Craig Houtz

Penn State Welcomes No. 25 Wisconsin to Beard Field for Weekend Series

Opens in a new window SB Wisconsin Game Notes

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The Penn State softball team (17-14, 2-1 Big Ten) returns to conference play in Happy Valley, welcoming No. 25 Wisconsin (24-5, 1-2 Big Ten) to Nittany Lion Softball Park and Beard Field for the first conference home series, March 29-31. The Nittany Lions and Badgers will play a three-game series with game one set for Friday, March 29 at 6 p.m., game two on Saturday, March 30 at 3 p.m., and the final game on Sunday, March 31 at noon. The first two games will be streamed via the subscription-based BTN Plus while Sunday's game will be the Nittany Lions' season debut on the Big Ten Network.

FOLLOW ALONG
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SERIES HISTORY

  • Penn State has the all-time series advantage over Wisconsin, 29-19.
  • The two teams have not faced each other since the 2015 season when Penn State won the series, 2-1.

SCOUTING THE BADGERS

  • Wisconsin is 24-5 overall and 1-2 in Big Ten conference play.
  • The Badgers are currently one of three Big Ten teams ranked in the latest polls.
  • Kayla Konwent leads the Badgers with a .442 batting average and a .860 slugging percentage. The junior has nine home runs and 32 RBI on the season.
  • In the circle, the Badger pitching staff holds a 1.52 ERA. Haley Hestekin and Kaitlyn Menz have seen the majority of the innings pitched and hold records of 11-3 and 9-2, respectively.

RUBBER MATCH TURNED CONFERENCE-OPENING SERIES WIN

  • Penn State won its first conference-opening series since the 2016 season after taking the series from Michigan State, 2-1, in East Lansing, March 22-24.
  • After a heartbreaking walk-off loss on Friday, the Nittany Lions rallied to score six runs in the seventh inning on Saturday to even the series.
  • Penn State then shut out Michigan State, 3-0, in the Sunday rubber match to win its first conference series since the 2017 season (last - 4/28-29/17 at Maryland).

DINGER CITY

  • Penn State has hit 22 home runs through the first 31 games, including six multi-home run games.
  • The 22 home runs surpasses the 2018 season total of 19.
  • Against Robert Morris on March 20, the Nittany Lions hit three home runs in a single game for the first time since the 2017 season when they did against Rutgers at home on April 21, 2017.
  • Those three home runs also all came in the same inning for the first time since the 2016 season when Penn State last did so against Maryland on April 15, 2016.
  • Against Michigan State on March 23, both home runs in the game also came in the same inning.
  • Chelsea Bisi and Toni Polk lead the team with five dingers each.

NO WALK ZONE

  • Junior transfer pitcher Hannah Shields leads the nation in walks allowed per seven innings.
  • The State College area native has given up just two free bases in 35.1 innings pitched.

MAGIC NUMBER 3

  • Penn State is 15-1 this season when scoring three or more runs.

10 RUNS IS A LOT

  • Penn State has scored 10 or more runs in three games this season, the most double-digit scoring games since the 2017 season.
  • The Nittany Lions' 10 runs in the third inning against Robert Morris on March 20 is the most in a single inning in the Amanda Lehotak era.

FRESHMEN DUO COMBINES FOR SHUTOUTS

  • The Penn State pitching staff has shut out three opponents in 2019 via the work in the circle by freshmen Kylee Lingenfelter and Bailey Parshall.
  • Lingenfelter and Parshall combined to shut out Duke, 6-0, in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge on Feb. 15, Florida A&M, 2-0, in the Madeira Beach Invitational on March 3, and Saint Joseph's,  6-0, in the USF Tournament Series on March 9.
  • Parshall also picked up her first career complete-game shutout against Michigan State on March 23. It marked the first shutout against a conference opponent since the 2017 season when Penn State shutout Rutgers, 7-0 (4/22/17).
  • Junior transfer Hannah Shields also owns a complete shutout this season against Robert Morris on March 20.
  • The five shutouts this season is the most since the 2017 season, when the team also had five that year.

WE'RE PARSHALL TO BAILEY'S STRIKEOUT SUCCESS

  • Freshman left-handed pitcher Bailey Parshall has made an immediate impact in the circle for Penn State.
  • The Belle Vernon, Pa., native leads the team in total strikeouts (124) and has three games with 10+ strikeouts.
  • Parshall struck out 15 Detroit Mercy batters on March 2 to tie the program record for most strikeouts in a single game.
  • Parshall is fourth in the conference and 28th in the nation in total strikeouts as of March 26.
  • Parshall also has four saves on the season, the most in the conference and tied for third-most in the nation.

SENIOR CLASS AWARD

  • Senior Tori Dubois has been named one of 30 candidates for the 2019 Senior CLASS Award® in collegiate softball.
  • To be eligible for the award, a student-athlete must be classified as an NCAA Division I senior and have notable achievements in four areas of excellence: community, classroom, character and competition.

300 CAREER WINS IN THE LEHOTAK FILE

  • Head coach Amanda Lehotak enters her sixth year under the helm of Penn State softball.
  • Lehotak recorded her 300th career win as the Nittany Lions took down Central Michigan on March 3 of the Madeira Beach Invitational and now has a 310-381 career record.
  • Lehotak tallied her 100th win at Penn State in the 2018 season and now has a 122-175 record with the Nittany Lions.

ON DECK
Penn State remains within the friendly confines of Nittany Lion Softball Park and Beard Field for a midweek nonconference doubleheader with Saint Francis on Wednesday, April 3 starting at 5 p.m.